The Red Titan
by starcarved
Summary: The Teen Titans have a sixth teammate. His name is Arde. People are looking for him, some are wanting to use him. But there's one person who doesn't know what she wants from him. That person is Raven. She's never felt this way about anyone before, and now she'll do anything to protect him...and he'll do the same for her. RavenXOC RobinXStarfire T for Language Read&Review Please?
1. Chapter 1

Red lights flashed in the Tower's central room. The first to arrive after the alarm was none other than the Boy Wonder, Robin. He gazed up at the giant monitor with a look of anger as the rest of the titans flowed into the room. "What is it this time?" Raven asked in her monotonous voice. "Madame Rouge." The Boy Wonder replied to her inquiry. "Alright Titans," he continued "Madame Rouge is downtown causing havoc at a research facility, Star your starbolts will definitely come in handy here so be prepared alright?" he told his Tamaranean friend with worry in his eyes. His eyes lingered on her for a few moments longer before he called out "Go!" as the Titans raced from their tower.

(Meanwhile downtown 4 miles south of Jump City Energy Research Facilities)

"Phase one of our plan to capture the Red one is complete." Madame Rouge spoke into her communicator. "Very well. Now that _that _has been taken care of, go and retrieve the boy. He is a valued research subject that we need." The Brain spoke back to her before ending their communications. Madame Rouge set off for a park in the distance, her communicator, which was also a tracker to some extent, telling her where her target was. It was a boy, whom The Brain wanted to research, The Brotherhood of Evil had been watching him for a long time. After their last encounter with the Teen Titans he had taken an interest in the one called Raven. This boy had bore many similarities with her as it seemed, making him the perfect test subject with which to find out more about the violet haired empath. Madame Rouge remembered the task of her mission as she walked up behind the young boy who was reading on a bench. "Hello young man." she murmured to get his attention. "Hi." he said looking up at the strange woman. "Who wears gloves like that in the middle of the summer." he asked, it was more of a statement than a question it seemed. "I do. You should come with me." she said reaching out to grab his arm before he could run. "Why?" he asked remaining on the bench as the elastic woman wrapped her hand and half of her forearm around his arm. "No more questions. Come." she demanded beginning to drag him away. "No." he said blankly yanking his arm free. "Enough" Madame Rouge said clearly irritated as the boy ran away from her. It was at that moment that she noticed the arrival of the Titans. "Alright Madame Rouge, you might as well just stand down! Titans, Go!" Robin called to his team charging the woman with his Bo staff. Raven only barely noticed the running figure of the teen as black orbs formed around her hands. A nearby lamp post cloaked in black energy began to rise from the ground as Raven muttered her mantra. "I am sorry, dear Titans." Madame Rouge said dodging their attacks. "I have a more important task at the moment." she finished running in the direction of the boy.

"Titans, after her!" their leader called as they chased after the villainess. "Where are you, you little pest!?" called the angry woman looking about the trees for the teen. There with his back against the wall of a nearby building the teenager watched his assailant look for him. He was not shaking, nor was he afraid. He was just watching her, cautious and curious as to what she wanted from him. Even so, he could feel the worry begin to rise inside of him. 'I shouldn't of left, they warned me that I wouldn't be liked here. I should have just stayed in Vertith.' he thought to himself taking his eyes off of the woman. He wanted to yell or scream, to get someone to help him but he knew that approach would prove ineffective against her. His resolve was to wait. For what he didn't know he just waited. "There you are." he heard her say as his heart sank. He didn't like this woman. "Leave him alone! He's just a civilian!" Robin called having finally caught up with the elastic woman. 'Who are they?' the boy wondered looking the strange group of teenagers over. He noticed that they all seemed around his age. 'I'd make fun of their outfits but I guess I'm no better' he looked down at his ensemble. He had the same outfit as always. Black combat boots, red jeans, red shirt, and a black trench coat. One of them was staring at him he noticed a floating girl looking in his direction. She was wearing a blue cloak. While he was thinking about his situation Madame Rouge had taken the chance to grab him. He struggled as her arm wrapped its way around his entire torso. "Let me go!" he demanded, yelling at his captor. "The Brain will be pleased that I have captured you Arde!" she laughed in his face. Cyborg and Starfire prepared to blast the villainess. "Wait! You can't do that, if you miss you could kill him!" the Boy Wonder held his hand in front of them blocking their aim. "Oh. That would be most dreadful." Starfire said dropping her hands to her side. Arde continued to struggle. 'I wanted to be normal. I didn't want to do this. But I guess now I have no choice.' he thought sighing. "I'll ask you one last time. Let me go." he said the tone of his voice becoming sharp and cold. "What can you do to me, Madame Rouge. I am indestructible." she laughed tightening her grip on his abdomen. "Melvorak." he began to chant, as his eyes slowly became red. Hearing his words Raven looked up at the teenage boy with a mixture of awe and curiosity. Madame Rouge was continuing to laugh not noticing the boy who was now looking at her with pure hatred, "Vertith." Arde continued his eyes now glowing a bright red color. Finally noticing what was going on Madame Rouge began to look worried. "What're you-" she began not finishing as he grabbed her arm with his free hand. "Sendros." he finished as his hand glowed red before melting straight through her rubber like skin. The villain screamed and released him unable to immediately regenerate her melted forearm. Arde dropped to the ground and stared at her for a second, "Um...she might get up again." he mumbled looking at the shocked Titans. He was right, just as he finished his sentence Madame Rouge threw a punch and sent him flying. "BeastBoy!" Robin called as he watched Arde, unable to recuperate in the air, make a beeline for a tree. "I'm on it don't worry!" the green changeling called as he jumped and changed into a gorilla mid-air, he caught the teen and placed him back on his feet. "Titans go!" Robin called again as the others ran for the weak Rouge. Arde hesitated as he watched them. "Didn't you hear me?" Boy Wonder asked, "I said go!" he called to the confused boy. "Oh, right!" he yelled concentrating and taking to the air. He took a spot by the changeling called Beast Boy. Madame Rouge was back on her feet and was now swatting the Titans off like flies. "Hey! Your names Arde right!?" BeastBoy called to him from the ground. "Um... yes!" he hesitated sending another ball of red energy from his hands at his opponent. "Alright! Sling shot me would you!?" he called throwing himself at the teen in the form of an armadillo. Okay!" Arde called back catching the ball like animal and throwing it at Rouge. The changeling shifted into the form of a Bengal Tiger seconds before impact, causing Rouge to be caught off guard as he smashed into her. She fell to the ground. Taking the chance, Arde raised his hands. "Melovorak Vertith Sendros!" he called out his mantra as his hands and eyes glowed, an orb of red energy forming around the villain capturing her.

(Later at Titan's Tower)

"We'd like to thank you for your help Arde. Madame Rouge has never been taken down so easily." Robin praised the pale teen in front of him. "It wasn't a problem." he said plainly. "You know. If you'd like you could stay here in Titan's Tower. The team could do much more with a sixth member." he continued extending his hand out to the boy. In it was a T-Phone. "You want me to join the Teen Titans?" he muttered shocked. "Yeah. We could really use your help around Jump City." he said his hand unwavering. The other Titans surrounded their leader. Cyborg was to Robin's left giving the confused Arde a reassuring grin. Starfire was to his left trying to resist the urge to cheer, as Arde thought the offer over. Raven was next to Starfire her hood still covered her expression. BeastBoy was next to Robin nodding at him like he was urging him to take it. 'These guys are like me. We may not fit in with normal people, but we fit in with each other. I could live her. I could protect people, and they wouldn't fear me.' he thought as he firmly grabbed the T-Phone in his hands and nodded "I'll do it." "Alright then. Arde. You're officially an honorary member of Titans West." Robin said slapping his new friend on the back. "Oh what a joyous day! I am so pleased you chose to stay here friend Arde!" the bubbly orange girl laughed as she hugged him with the force of an Iron Maiden. "Oh, I forgot you haven't had a chance to meet the others yet." Robin said looking at the confused look on his face. The group moved to the living room and sat down. "Well let's get this over with shall we. You can call me Robin, I came here from Gotham a while back around that time is when the Titans were created. You've met Starfire, we call her Star, she's from a planet called Tameran she came her when the Gordanians took her from her home planet. She's pretty much why we are even here now actually." The Boy Wonder looked at Starfire fondly, "That's Cyborg, he's the chef of the house I guess, and SUCKS at video games." Robin looked at Cyborg as if he was challenging him. "_I _suck!?" Cyborg scoffed in disbelief, Robin ignored him and continued with introductions. "That's BeastBoy, he's a vegetarian" Robin continued deciding he'd let the other Titans give their own in depth descriptions later. "Her name is Raven." he sighed noticing she was already leaving. Arde stared as the doors closed behind her. "Well. What about you? What's your story?" Robin asked leaning forward with interest. "Oh. My names Arde, but I guess you already know that. I'm from a place called Vertith. My mother is dead, my father sent me here so I could live a normal life." Arde looked at his feet thinking about his mother's death. "I'm sorry to hear that. What about your powers? Do you use magic?" he continued asking questions, "Yes. My father taught me. I was born with the ability to use heat magic, hence my name, my father just taught me how to use more advanced magic." Arde answered. "Any idea why Madame Rouge was after you?" he asked as his facial expression hardened. "No, she did say something about needing me for a test subject or something. Do you think it had anything to do with my powers?" he answered his interest peaked "It could have. But anyway right now you should go and relax, maybe you should go talk to Raven. She could probably relate to you with the whole magic thing." Robin set off for the evidence room. Cyborg and BeastBoy had started up a game on the couch, and Starfire was in the kitchen making something that looked like toxic waste. 'Maybe that would be a good idea' he thought to himself after looking over his other options. He set off for Raven's room. He searched about for Raven before figuring out she was in a room in the middle of the hall. 'Guess this is it' he thought as he reached out his hand to knock, "Come in."Raven called to him before he could even touch the door. The door swished open and he stepped in. Raven's room was dark, the only light was coming from the candles that were lit and the window. "Um hi. You're Raven right?" he asked as he stood awkwardly in the room. Raven was sitting on her bed book in hand, "Yes, do you need something?" she asked in her usual monotone. "Everyone else is doing something either utterly boring...or life threatening. Does anyone here actually eat Starfire's cooking?" he asked getting over his cowardice. "No." she answered. He wasn't very annoying so she decided she would let him stay for a bit longer. Arde sat on the floor and crossed his legs before chanting his mantra to himself. "What're you doing?" she asked glancing at him. "Meditating." he paused to look at her with one eye open. "Why?" she asked shocked. "It helps me keep from blowing things up on accident." he admitted to her before continuing to chant. She tried to leave him alone but she was curious, "Where are you from?" she asked noticing his skin. It was almost the same shade of gray as hers, just a bit darker. "Vertith." he muttered not breaking his concentration. "Vertith? Where's that?" she continued putting down her book. "In an alternate dimension." he continued, beginning to hover off of the ground. "So you use magic then?" she was now on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling off of the side. "Yes I do." he continued meditating. 'He must have really good concentration to be able to meditate like this.' she thought to herself "What kind?" she asked freely now, noticing she wasn't going to bother him. "Heat magic mostly. I can use other types of magic though." he said finally opening his eyes. "Oh. Why are you here?" she said "I mean in this dimension" she corrected herself. "My father sent me here, because he was afraid I would kill him." Arde decided he could tell her the truth. "Why was he afraid?" Raven continued asking questions. "I was born with the ability to use heat magic, when I was a kid my magic was erratic which eventually led to my mother's death. My father is just paranoid that I will kill him too, he thinks I'm a monster." he finished. "You're not a monster, you seem to have perfect control over your magic." she said in monotone. "Thanks Raven." Arde said smiling at her. Raven was glad her hood was still covering her face. She'd hate to have to kill him for seeing her blush.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: You know I really wish I could say I owned the Teen Titans...but you know dreams only last for a night.

(2 Months after the Events of the First Chapter)

"Alright team! It's training day! First we will have hand-to-hand lessons, then we'll have two people team pairings on the obstacle course!" Robin jeered in an excited tone. Starfire was tired but didn't let it show, Cyborg and BeastBoy simply fist bumped at the 'two people team pairings' part. With six members it was always him and Cyborg as partners now. Raven sat in front of the large landscape window meditating, while Arde was sitting on the sofa reading. "Everybody out!" Robin yelled as he headed for the elevator. Arde put down his book and walked towards the door, Raven followed soon after.

(Outside)

"Alright, Cy here made a new program that will match up the competitors for the hand-to-hand practice. So. Who's first?" Boy Wonder asked his cybernetic friend. Cyborg pulled out a small handheld device and pushed a button. Whirring and clicking could be heard as everyone awaited the results. "Looks like the first match is Arde versus Robin." Cyborg said trying to hide the excitement in his voice. During the two months that he had been here, Arde had not had to fight one villain hand-to-hand. He had decommissioned Cinderblock in under 10 minutes, which was quite the feat. Not only that but during a fight with Billy Numerous he had destroyed all of them single handedly with his bare hands. "Alright Arde, are you ready to beg for mercy yet?" Robin asked mockingly as he took his stance. The other Titans backed away to give them room. Arde kept quiet, as he took his own stance. His apparel had changed quite drastically, he still wore red, but they had insisted that he get rid of his coat. Now he wore black spandex like pants and a shirt of the same material that had a large wicked looking 'T' emblazoned on it. On his left hand was a black glove, on his right was a similar red one. He still wore his black combat boots. Starfire had insisted he get a haircut, so now instead of his usual mop of hair he had a simple cut. His hair only slightly draped down into his eyes. Robin waited a few moments before charging his friend. Arde didn't move as the Boy Wonder quickly closed the distance between them. Robin had begun to raise his fist to punch him when he fell to the ground. He couldn't feel his arm anymore. "Hey! No magic Arde!" Robin fumed holding his limp arm, "I didn't use magic." he muttered offended that his friend thought he would disregard the rules. "Cyborg?" Robin said looking for a conformation. "I understand what you must think dude, but the video replay doesn't show him using any form of magic..." he replied walking over to Robin. "Look." he said giving Robin the device. Robin peered down at the video that was playing before him. There he was charging Arde like he remembered, he glanced over the image of Arde expecting to see a red flash that would be magic but he didn't. All that was seen was a sudden blurry movement by Arde and Robin was lying on the ground. "What the..." Robin muttered under his breath. "How did you do that? Show me." he stated. "Alright." Arde had Robin stand in front of him. "Raise your fist." he instructed, Robin did as he was told. "Like this." Arde took a step forward with his right leg and slid it into his left, while Robin was confused from his sudden loss of balance Arde took his right hand slammed it into the joint of his shoulder causing his arm to temporarily go numb. "I get it now. Thanks for teaching me that, it could come in handy later." Robin said. "Alright, Cy, who's ne-" Robin began but was cut off as a shadow enveloped the entire island. "Hello again duckies!" a voice called from what seemed to be nowhere. "Mad Mod." Raven muttered beneath her breath. "Mad who?" Arde asked looking back at the empath. "He's a crazy guy with a cane BeastBoy answered from near Cyborg."Oh. "Arde said accepting the simple minded answer. Robin looked up expecting to see Mad Mod hovering above them somehow. Instead of this he saw instead a large Gothic style building. "Guys move!" Robin yelled as he saw the building began to drop down on top of them. BeastBoy tried turning into a cheetah and running to safety before he realized that the building was just as large, if not larger than the entire island itself. The Titans could do nothing but try and shield themselves as the giant building came down upon them.

Arde groaned as his eyes began to blink open. "Keep them closed." he heard a voice command him. "Raven? Why?" he mumbled forcing his eyes shut. "Hypno screens" she said in monotone. "What?" he asked he couldn't help but open his eyes. It took him a second but eventually his eyes adjusted to the bright lights in the room. He seemed to be in a classroom of sorts, both the floors and the walls were white. In front of him there was a strange screen in front that swirled around. Arde tried not to look away but his head was held in place. By what he did not know. He looked down to see that he was in a chair but his arms and legs were being held down by wooden restraints. "Raven?" he called looking for his comrade. "Up here." she muttered from above him. Arde struggled with his head restraints but eventually managed to look towards the ceiling, Raven was hanging by her feet like a bat from the ceiling. "Oh. Well ummm how's it hanging?" he tried with a laugh. "Jokes are not your strong point. You're worse than BeastBoy." she said in monotone. "You're right, but anyway shouldn't we be getting out of here?" he said not liking the closed space. "I can't move. Whatever Mod has me hanging from is restricting my powers." the empath explained. "Oh. I could probably break these if I tried..." suggested the red clad boy. He tried to break his arms free from the restraints but found that the wood was stronger than it seemed. "Why can't I move?" he asked no one in particular. Raven shrugged and tried to blow the hair from her face. "I have an idea." he muttered before closing his eyes. "Melvorak-" Arde began. His mantra was cut short when a booming British accented voice called out from a speaker in the room 'Oi! Come now my little duckies! We can't have you skipping class so early can we!?" no sooner than the voice was gone did the classroom burst to life. The screen began to open from the middle, from where two large statues baring resemblance to Mad Mod emerged. Raven gritted her teeth as she watched the statues slowly approach them "Get on with it." she told Arde. "Melvorak Vertith Sendros!" he yelled out as the chair along with his restraints exploded in a wave of heat. "Right then. Can we leave now?" he looked up at the blue clad girl. The statues had finally reached them and had begun to attack the teens. Raven could do little more than try to swing out of the way as Arde dealt with the troublesome blocks of stone. He charged the closest creation and tried to overpower it with strength alone. The statue turned to face him and lashed out at him with what appeared to be a cane. Arde dodged and raised his hand it glowed red and the statue began to float cloaked in a red aura. He swiftly moved his hand and sent the statue flying into his stone companion. "Hurry up and get me down before they get up." Raven called to him impatiently, Arde took to the air and looked for the source of Raven's restraints. All he could see was a brightly glowing ring of light around her ankles. "Hm..." he pondered looking at the object, "They're getting up!" she yelled back at her friend. "I'm going as fast as I can!" he replied as he muttered his mantra. The white object glowed red for a brief moment before dissipating back to its neutral shade. "It's not working!" he yelled as the statues got back to their feet, unable to think of another plan Arde removed his gloves and grabbed it with his bare hands. The ring was unbelievably stretchy but it was also rather hot. He pulled on it until the ring had grown enough for Raven to escape. "Alright move!" he ordered her as he let go. Raven did as she was told and dropped to the ground. Arde dropped down next to her as one of the statues threw a punch. He jumped backwards out of the way and raised his fists to fight. Raven had begun to attack the closest statue, leaving the remaining one for him to deal with. 'We don't have time to drag this fight out. We have to find the others.' Arde thought to himself as the statue approached. _"_Iudices, invoco perflammasexquiretiudicatur" he chanted. The floor began to shake before fire exploded from its surface. Arde gritted his teeth as he tried to keep the spell in effect long enough for the statues to be destroyed. The flames sought out their targets and soon the statues were consumed entirely by the raging inferno. Raven stood stunned as the flames began to seep back into the ground having turned the statues into piles of ash. Arde leaned forward on the edge of consciousness feeling entirely drained. "Let's get out of here and find the others." he panted as he began to walk towards the only door in the room. He walked outside to find himself inside of what looked like a castle. "Great." he muttered as Raven slipped his arm over her shoulder trying to keep him standing. "Well. We had better start walking." she said pointing to the stairs on the other side of the landing.

(In another room of Mod's Castle)

"Dude where are we?" BeastBoy mumbled as he walked around a giant black and white library. "Inside of another one of Mod's tricks." Robin replied looking about the room. "This no trick friend, simply another effort to teach you Titans a lesson!" the mad character stated from atop a high bookshelf. "Where are the others!?" the Boy Wonder demanded to know as he took a birdarang from his belt. "There in the middle of class my ducky! Ole Moddie is going to turn them into respectful students!" The villain laughed twirling his cane. Robin charged the villain and began climbing the bookshelf with ease. BeastBoy shifted into the form of a hummingbird and began to fly towards Mod, he had made it halfway up when a hypnoscreen appeared in front of him. "Wha-" BeastBoy began before he fell from the sky hypnotized. Mad Mod laughed as he lay drooling on the ground," Always was a good student that one" he prosed. Looking back down at the quickly approaching Robin he tapped his cane against the top of the shelf. Robin's eyes widened beneath his mask as he realized what was happening, the room had shifted causing everything to flip horizontally. Robin quickly sent his grappling hook into the side of the book case and launched himself at Mod. "Snotty little brat." Mad Mod stated as he observed the teen flying towards him. He dropped to the floor evading the boy wonder and ran out of a door at the back of the library. Robin landed on the back of the bookshelf and slammed his fists into it yelling in frustration. BeastBoy still lay on the ground mumbling. "Great. Now I have to get him to laugh." Robin muttered grabbing the green changeling and dragging him towards the door. The black haired teen looked around as he stepped into the hallway. Turning his head to the right he saw someone disappear around a corner. Throwing the dumbfounded shapeshifter over his shoulder he dashed off after the figure hoping it was the villain he was after. He turned the corner and immediately threw explosive disks at his target. Waiting for the smoke to clear he expected to see a stunned Mod. He was shocked when all he saw was to very clearly upset empaths. "Arde? Raven? Where were you guys...and Raven why you are holding him like that?" the confused Boy Wonder asked his friends hoping he hadn't interrupted anything...private. Raven immediately let go of her friend and allowed him to fall to his face realizing what Robin was thinking. "Ow..." mumbled the pained Arde as he stood up, "We got attacked by some of Mad Mod's minions in a classroom on the first floor." he said looking at their red faced leader. "What's up with you two?" he questioned seeing Raven's face held a similar expression. Robin shook his head and disregarded the thought, "Have you guys seen Cyborg or Starfire anywhere?" he asked hoping they had seen the Tamaranean girl. "No, I was about to ask you the same thing. What's wrong with BeastBoy?" he asked looking at the drooling changeling. "Hypnoscreen." the blue clad girl and Robin said in unison. "Know any good jokes?" Robin asked before tossing the disoriented shapeshifter at him. "Hmmmm..." Arde struggled trying to think of something BeastBoy liked. "What do you call a dumb carnivore?" he blurted out, suddenly the changeling jumped up laughing "a _MEATHEAD_"! He yelled "Dude _everyone _knows that one!" the changeling gloated. "Who cares? It worked didn't it?" Arde said in monotone before walking off. 'There's still two missing, the sooner we find Star and Cy the sooner we can get out of this ' he thought as he stalked down the hallway. "What's his problem?" BeastBoy questioned looking at Raven. "Apparently you." she muttered before dawning her hood and heading after him. Robin walked after her "C'mon BeastBoy, we still have to find the others." he stated looking back at him. BeastBoy shrugged it off and continued down the corridor with his friends. Arde was still walking down the hall when a bright green flash illuminated the area. "That has to be Starfire!" Robin exclaimed racing ahead of the team to find the source. Arde ran after his leader and prepared for battle once again, he was still pretty drained after using so much of his energy on the statues, he knew he wouldn't have the strength to do something like that again without some serious meditation first. They turned another corner and a luminescent green light could be seen from underneath a door at the end of the corridor. Robin raced towards it and kicked the door down without hesitation. "Starfire!" Robin yelled in terror, the Tamaranean princess was cornered with several of Mad Mod's robot henchmen surrounding her. She was destroying them with ease, but new ones were taking their place as quickly as she was dismantling them. The Boy Wonder raced toward the horde that was slowly overtaking his friend. "Titans Go!" he gave the command with a mixture of terror and urgency. BeastBoy charged ahead taking the form of a rhinoceros and head-butting a mass of the robots into a wall. Arde ran into the fray knowing he would be relying on his physical abilities for this fight. Raven looked at him as he ran away 'He's to fatigued to continue throwing around magic, it could kill him.' she thought sensing how drained he was. She could feel Timid worrying about him as she raced to Starfire's side in the middle of the crowd. Her friend was beginning to tire there was a longer interval of time between her starbolts. Raven grabbed a single robot using her powers to knock the others back. While the girls were fending off the robots from the inside, the guys were trying to destroy them from the outside. Robin was destroying them as quickly as possible using his bo staff as a lance and piercing them relentlessly. BeastBoy in the form of a Yeti was crushing them one by one with massive fists. Arde was still blocked off from using magic, even his heat magic wouldn't work. Eventually he found himself being approached by three of the massive robots. "Well this is just great." he muttered taking his fighting stance as they approached. The first robot raised its mechanical arm and Arde flinched as it folded back on itself. 'That's not a gun.' he tried to reassure himself as the cavity where its arm used to be glowed red, 'Well maybe it is a gun' he corrected himself as he dodged towards it, in hopes of evading the blast. It was then that he remembered the other robots, glancing at them he saw they had their guns aimed at him as well. "Shit..." he muttered knowing there was no way he could shield himself in time. Awaiting the inevitable he shut his eyes. He waited...and waited...and waited...nothing. Nothing happened. Either death was painless or...he wasn't dead. Arde dared to open his eyes and witnessed something that was quite possibly the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Raven was standing above him and they were surrounded by a dark shield. "Raven?" he muttered still confused. "Get up." she said in a slightly demonic tone. He did as he was told, seeing he was back on his feet she let her shield fade from around them just as BeastBoy had finished taking out the last of the robots surrounding them. Raven faltered on her feet as the effect of her overuse of power began to take its toll. Arde walked over to his comrade and let her fall into his side. "C'mon Raven, you shouldn't of done that. It takes you longer to recuperate than me and you know It." he said to the limp girl in his arms. "Shut up." she muttered to him trying to be rude, but her heart wasn't in it. Robin was checking on Starfire and bombarding her with questions like 'Are you okay' and 'anything broken?' The orange-skinned girl tried to keep up with his questions but eventually she just began to look irritated. "Do we not need to be looking for friend Cyborg?" she said trying to get Robin back on track. "Oh right." he stuttered beginning to re-focus. "Alright team. We're still missing a Titan. Starfire, you and BeastBoy try flying up the stairs and look for an exit, it looked like there were about two floors left. Arde, if you can look after Raven and still manage to fight you can go with me to search for Cyborg and Mod on this floor. If you two run into Mod on any of the upper floors, _immediately_ call for back up." Robin gave his orders only looking away from Starfire when absolutely necessary. "That's it. Titans go!" he commanded realizing they were wasting time. BeastBoy, in the form of a hawk, flew towards the stairs with Starfire close behind him. Raven was now leaning her entire body into Arde's side. Her arm was draped over his shoulder and her face began to redden as she felt the heat from his hand on her side. Robin looked at the two and let a small chuckle escape his lips. He hadn't seen Raven this happy since the incident with Malchior. Although that had been very short lived, he hoped this would last much longer. They slowly searched every room on the corridor as they worked their way to the stairs. Cyborg was nowhere to be found. "I'll call Starfire, maybe they found him." Robin said taking out his T-Phone. Arde moved toward the black and white wall and let Raven sit down. "Do you feel any better yet?" he asked her standing in front of her. She nodded slowly not wanting to look at him. "You know you really didn't have to do that you." he told her running his hand through his dark hair. "You were in trouble. It's not like I could just let you die." she replied slightly annoyed at the gray skinned teen. "I wouldn't have died. I just didn't have enough time to put up a barrier. You didn't have to endanger yourself to save me." he told her sensing the change in her tone. "I didn't have a choice!" she yelled at him rising from the floor. Robin put his communicator back in his belt and looked over at Arde and Raven. "Starfire said that BeastBoy found Cyborg. His systems are shut down so they're guarding him while he reboots." he stated before pausing as he noticed how Raven was looking at Arde. It seemed as if she was trying to stare a hole through him. "Guys?" he mumbled before being met with a loud 'what' from the both of them. "Err, I was saying that the best plan of action would be to look for Mod while they wait for Cyborg to reboot." he finished as Raven started marching up the steps fuming at her friend. Arde sighed as he headed up after her. Robin shook his head as he followed the two with a confused expression.

"How long is this going to take!? I haven't eaten since breakfast!" BeastBoy groaned as he realized just how long they had been trapped in the mad villain's castle. "I am sorry friend BeastBoy, I will make you a traditional Tamaranean meal as soon as our home is back to the normal" she apologized to the green boy. "Um. Thanks Star but I think I'll just have tofu." he tried to break it to her as gently as possible, cooking for her friends made Starfire happy. BeastBoy looked over at his friend he looked dead but BeastBoy knew better because his robotic red eye was flashing. "C'mon Cy. I'm ready to eat so just hurry up and wake up already!" BeastBoy yelled at his still friend. "Friend Robin and the others are going to look for the Mad Mod" Starfire said half-heartedly. She was worried about Robin trying to fight someone so dangerous without her. BeastBoy began to grin as he noticed his friend beginning to move, it started with his arms. Soon Cyborg was standing straight up and grinning as well, "Booyah!' he yelled pouncing on BeastBoy and delivering a Wet Willy to his ear. "Dude! Not cool!" he retaliated running to Starfire. "Oh joyous day! Now we can go and help our friends defeat the Mad Mod!" she said rising even higher in the sky. Starfire was still jumping up and down when a loud explosion came from above them. Starfire's eyes widened as she imagined Robin being blown apart. She took of down the hall with Cyborg and BeastBoy who were trying to keep up with her without getting hurt.

Robin threw more explosive disks at the crazed villain. The more he threw the more the castle shook. "Careful you snotty little brat! Anymore of that and you'll take down Castle Moddie!" Mod yelled dodging the exploding projectiles. "That's the point." the masked teen replied taking more of the disks from his belt. While they were looking for Mod the three teens had come up with a plan to stop him. 'I'll attack him head on, that'll get him to flee.' Robin had said to Arde and Raven. 'While he's concentrated on me, Raven you trap him in a barrier. Arde since you can use magic you could probably manage to break through and grab the cane. If we have it we can catch Mad Mod and save the tower.' he finished explaining the plan. Now he realized the plan was slowly starting to fall apart. Robin was starting to run out of explosive disks and Mod was still not tired. 'We need the others here...but I can't risk going for the communicator _now__' __Robin muttered under his breath, "Did someone call for back up!?" a loud obnoxious _voice called from the door way. "Guys!" Robin exclaimed looking at the three other Titans. "Alright! Forget the plan! Why don't we show Mod what we learned guys!" Robin gave the order with renewed confidence. With the team now fully assembled it took seconds for them to get Mod cornered. "Well. It looks like you've caught old Moddie then doesn't it?" the villain said with a smile. "One thing I've learned about being in your traps, Mod, it that _nothing _is ever as it seems." the masked Titan replied to the villain. "Oh now we're starting to learn, aren't we duckies!?" he laughed with a crooked smile. Arde noticed something odd and began to take a closer look at the villain. There seemed to be a light coming from his head. He followed the light with his eyes to the ceiling of the castle. Upon further examination he noticed a small hole in the castle roof. "Guys look!" Arde called out to the team. Robin looked at the ceiling and eventually noticed what Arde had been talking about. "What!? No no no! Look at me duckies, look at me!" he yelled trying to distract the Boy Wonder. "BeastBoy go for it!" Robin called to the green changeling. He nodded at his leader and took off for the ceiling in the form of a humming bird. Mad Mod could do nothing more than watch as the changeling flew into the hole before shifting into a Tyrannosaurus Rex causing the castle to collapse around them from the ceiling down. "No!" Mod yelled as he began to dissipate revealing him to be a holographic replica. "Team let's get out of here and catch the _real _Mod!" Robin exclaimed. Starfire flew into the sky having grabbed Robin because of his absence of wings. BeastBoy turned into a Pterodactyl and latched onto Cyborgs shoulder carrying him into the sky. Raven and Arde simply flew after them. Soon the Titans found Mad Mod in a control room just outside of the castle that was hidden beneath the waves. Robin allowed the Titans to take a break after the events of the day. "Sooooooooo who wants burgers!?" Cyborg exclaimed to the team, "What?! No! First Star wanted me to eat her 'cooking' but now _you_ expect me to eat meat!? I have _been __most of the things you eat_before! Do you know what that's like?! It's like canon- canibla- can-" BeastBoy struggled for words. "Cannibalism." Raven finished. "Yeah! That! We're having tofu!" BeastBoy finished. "No one even likes that tofu crap!" Cy replied in a yell. "Wait. Friend BeastBoy, you do not like my cooking?" Starfire asked on the verge of tears. Arde walked off heading to his room, the last thing he heard was BeastBoy's desperate attempts to get the emotional Tamaranean to forgive him.

A/N: Wooo! Second chapter. Thanks to those who reviewed/favorited/followed. If you hated the first chapter I understand. It was written out of a sudden feeling of nostalgia and was meant to be a oneshot. Then I went back and watched the first two seasons (yes the first TWO seasons) of my favorite childhood show and realized how badly I messed it up. I realized how OOC Raven was. I realized how I totally botched the overall personality of the team as a whole even. I hope I managed to fix that in this chapter, it's more action-y and I dedicated myself to redeeming my mistakes. To those of you who loved it. I am glad you did and your reviews made me a happy snowman! I hope you will review on this chapter as well. Raven may be _slightly_ OOC this time. The next chapter will be partially in Nevermore. So that was a spoiler like thing I'm sorry.

As for those who criticized my OC. Dedication takes a lifetime. (Or in this case 3 hours) He was _not_ the best executed character of all time, but I did spend almost three hours thinking about what my character should be. I wrote down so many ideas before settling on the idea of Arde. So yes. It was 'arde' coming up with what you called rubbish. The name Arde was not something I merely pulled out of the dimmer recesses of my mind. If you cared to know the name Arde was a play on the latin words ardeo or ardere, which mean burn. I thought that would be a good name for a superhero who's abilities revolved around heat. Character construction is still in the process nonetheless, this character will be worked on throughout upcoming chapters. Those of you who would like to have an input in how he turns out feel free to PM me with your ideas. I would really appreciate it. Thanks for your time

I will be needing a main villain for an upcoming chapter so if you can tell me what All Time Low song I referenced you can pick the villain (it can even be an OC villain of your own)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I am afraid I don't own the beautiful show that is Teen Titans

(4:30 AM)

Arde yawned as he rose from his bed. He liked his room in the tower. It was black, a color he liked. The floor and bed were red thought as well as his door. It wasn't very bright either. He pulled on his boots and walked out into the corridor. Raven was the only person that would even think about getting up this early. Robin had declared today to be a 'Break Day' and had gotten Titans East to watch over Jump City for the day. Making his way to the kitchen he decided to make Raven some tea, he didn't much like it himself but Raven loved it. Out of all the Titans Arde was most fond of her. She was beautiful, and not annoying like the others. He had grown to love all of the Titans as family but after so much of Cyborg's and BeastBoy's bickering over what to eat he began to find being around them rather difficult. Raven on the other hand was quiet. She would talk to him like she had always known him, and they had a lot in common. Around a week ago Arde had started bringing Raven her tea every morning. It gave him an excuse to be in her room. After making the tea he headed for Raven's room. As usual he didn't have to knock she just opened the door and he came in. "Good morning." he greeted her as he came in and handed her the cup. "Morning. Thanks." she replied sitting up in her bed. He nodded taking his place on the floor. "I'm sorry about yelling at you yesterday..." she mumbled not meeting his gaze. "Don't worry about it, you were just trying to help me. I get it." he replied as he crossed his legs and began meditating. He found it easier to meditate in her room, it was peaceful to him. "What was that spell you used yesterday called?" she questioned him as he closed his eyes. "Jury of Flames." he answered slowly rising into the air. "I've never heard of it, and I don't think it's in any of my books." she murmured walking over to her bookcase. "It shouldn't be. I created it." he answered opening one of his eyes to watch her. "You can do that? Shouldn't that require a lot of time?" she asked her friend. "Yes. I created it a _long _time ago. It was sort of an accident anyway. I try not to use it now, it drains almost all of my powers just using it." said Arde as he continued floating just off of the ground. "Do you know any other spells?" she asked intrigued. "Of course I do. I spent my childhood locked in my room with nothing to do but read. I know almost every spell there is." he said jokingly. "I'm sure that's a slight exaggeration." she mumbled finishing off her tea. "Probably" Arde replied laughing. Raven gave him one of her rare barely there smiles, she'd done this a lot more often since Arde's arrival. He was nice, and smart, and not hard to look at. "Raven?" she snapped back to reality to find Arde waving his hand in front of her face. "Huh?" she muttered confused. "I asked you if you were okay. Your cup exploded." he laughed at the expression on her face

(7:30 AM; Kitchen)

"C'mon Cy! Just let me cook today!" BeastBoy pleaded with his friend trying to force him away from the stove. "No, B! Nobody wants _tofu _eggs! We want **real** eggs!" he told the green changeling pushing him away. "Come friends, can you not both prepare the feast of the morning?" Starfire suggested standing between the two friends. "Well yeah but-' Cyborg began "Then that is what you shall do!" Starfire decided forcing the two towards the stove together. Deciding it would be best not attract Starfire's attention again, they remained bickering quietly. Robin walked in and glanced at the two friends' unusual quietness. "Where's Arde? I wanted to see if he could spar with me." Robin asked the room. "I think he's on the roof meditating with Raven." Cyborg told his masked friend. "Oh. If you see him tell him to find me." Robin said making his way to the evidence room.

(8:00; Rooftop/Evidence Room)

The two empaths sat in silence as the sun rose into the sky. Raven was floating just above the Tower's roof deep in meditation. She liked spending time with Arde, but the closeness of their relationship was driving her crazy. Happy and Affection were practically jumping for joy inside of her. Knowledge was head over heels for his intellect and her powers were being erratic. Arde was sitting next to his friend looking out at the mass of water. 'It's getting closer...' he thought worried. His hair was getting lighter, it was almost brown. He leaned back thinking about what was slowly taking over his conscience. "Raven." he said sighing. "What is it?" she answered. Raven stood up beside him. "Nothing. Never mind." he replied "I'm gonna go talk to Robin." he finished getting up from the ground. Raven sighed she didn't want him to leave but being away from him would probably do her and her Emoticlones good. "Okay." she watched him walk towards the door. Arde was worried. Something was coming and it could mean the end of the Teen Titans. 'Why did I stay? Now I'm just putting everyone's lives at risk by staying.' His mind raced as he headed for the main room. Upon arrival he saw Cyborg and BeastBoy playing a game called 'Zombie Avengers' on the couch. Starfire, meanwhile, was reading a magazine about a boy band. "Hey Star, have you seen Robin?" he asked approaching the orange girl. Starfire glanced up at him and smiled "Friend Robin was looking for you as well! I think he is in the evidence room" she beamed up at him. "Thanks Star." Arde headed out of the main room and took a left towards the evidence room. Robin was standing in front of a case holding a mask. "That was Slade's?" he dared to ask. He had never met the villain but he was beyond evil according to the others. "Yes. Sometimes I still tell myself he's not really dead. That his death was just another elaborate trick." the masked teen explained. "Robin your obsession with Slade is unhealthy. He's gone. You all saw Terra defeat him." Arde assured his friend. "You're right. It isn't healthy. But you don't know what it was like to be tormented by him." Robin said glaring at the empath. "I don't that's true. Anyway, I have a favor to ask of you. I wanted to ask if you could teach me how to use those disks." Arde asked awkwardly. Robin looked at the wiry teen wondering why he would ask for weapons. He nodded not questioning his friend's decision, 'This is Arde, he wouldn't ask for something if he didn't think it was necessary.' thought the teen, "Come on. Let's go outside." Robin said. They headed back towards the doors, Arde still wondering if he had made the right decision.

(8:45; Obstacle Course)

Robin rolled out a table with various projectiles. There were birdarangs, and flashbombs, and explosive disks. "Take your pick." Robin commanded, the gray boy did as he was told and picked up one of the round disks. "Alright then. Try hitting one of the targets. Arde did as he was told and started throwing disks at the round targets. Robin made him continue throwing until he always hit the bulls-eye. Robin then decided he might as well teach him how to use a more useful weapon. He handed his friend a pair of gauntlet style gloves. "Couldn't I hurt someone with these?" he asked taking the metal gloves. "Cyborg made these for me. But I prefer my bo staff. Anyway, don't worry about that, you'd only be using these on the tougher opponents. Like Cinderblock or those robots of Slade's." he replied pushing a button on the side of the left glove. The gloves began to collapse on themselves and soon they were reduced to nothing but gold bracelets. "Cool." he said in response slipping the bracelets on. "You'd have to lose the gloves you already where though." Robin said. "Oh..." Arde hesitantly removed his gloves exposing his hands. Inside of his palms were two small stones. They glowed orange made his hands feel hot. Robin stared, he hadn't noticed the objects inside of his hands before. "Um yeah. Thanks Robin. Now how do I use these?" Arde asked. "Just press the button and fight like you would normally." Robin said heading back into the Tower. Arde sat down on the grass and looked at his hands, "They're glowing. Why are they glowing?" he muttered. He rubbed his hands together and looked again, the friction had burned his skin. Wincing her rose and pulled his gloves back on. He was running out of time, not to mention he was nowhere near strong enough in his present condition. He could feel himself deteriorating. Arde sighed and teleported back into the Tower. He reappeared in his room in front of the window. 'The world is a great place. And I don't want to see it go to hell.' the empath thought 'Then again, why should I care?' he thought. Shaking his head he walked over to his bed, 'This is my home now. Of course I should care." he continued aloud. Arde collapsed on his bed holding his head. Arde lay there thinking about how he could save his friends from the inevitable. His soul-self was nowhere near strong enough to defeat the evil he knew would arrive soon. The gauntlet gloves he had gotten from Robin would be of little help. He was still thinking when he heard a knock on his door. "Uh. Arde? We're going out for pizza, are you coming dude?" BeastBoy asked from behind the metal door. "No." he answer stoicly. "Alright, we'll get you a cheese pizza then." BeastBoy asked he knew what his friends liked when it came to pizza toppings so the decision was not hard for him. Arde remained silent as he heard his friend continue down the hall. Looking out the window he could see the TCar heading away from the tower. Raven was still here, she was somewhere in the Tower and Arde could feel it. She was worried about something. Arde continued gripping his head. It felt as if something was trying to beat its way out from the inside, though in a way there was. Arde screamed in agony spasms of pain swept over his body. 'There's nothing else I can do.' the empath thought reaching for his only possession from Vertith. It was a stone, called Zenlanite that his mother had given him as a child. He clutched it tightly as he muttered the incantation. "Aldruon Enlenthranel Vosolen Lirus-nor!" he chanted a red light flowing from his hands. The last thing he saw before his consciousness faded was Raven rushing through his door.

(12:00, Infirmary)

"Do you have any idea how he did this?" the Boy Wonder asked looking at the strange gem in Raven's hands. "I think it was the same incantation that trapped Malchior inside of that book." Raven asked staring at the brightly colored stone. It felt warm, and occasionally it would glow. "He's not dead." she stated looking at her leader. "Just stuck in here". Robin looked again at the gem wondering why his comrade had trapped himself inside of it. "Is there any way to get him back?" Robin asked her. "Yes. It would take a while for me to get everything together, but there's a spell that can release him." the violet-haired girl answered. "Well I'll leave you to it then. Plasmus has escaped again and the Titans East are having trouble." Robin said walking towards the door, "and Raven?" he stated to get her attention. "Get him back." it was more of an order than a plea. Raven nodded and continued to stare at the gem. Raven headed towards her room deep in thought, the stone containing her friend clutched tightly in her hand. "Malchior could at least talk from within the book. Is there a reason why you aren't?" she wondered out loud. She sighed and continued walking towards her room. 'Arde is like me. Maybe if I go to Nevermore he will be able to project his soul out of the stone' she wondered as she headed towards the mirror that was lying on her dresser. She stared into the mirror and waited for her to be transported to the place where her Emoticlones lived. Nevermore.

A/N: Rather short I'll admit but the next one will be action packed I swear! And it's also one of those big reveal type things anyway, it goes into more depth about Arde's past and such. It's still in the VERY VERY VERY beginning stages of writing. Or at least thats what I would call it. I've covered the main storyline of the chapter but I'm having difficulties closing it out, so as soon as I get that barrier out of the way it'll just have to go through the standard editing and proofing and it'll be up.


	4. Chapter 4

Raven had reappeared inside Happy's part of Nevermore. There were trees in clusters all over the grassy field. Strawberries floated about in various places. "Hey! Raven's back!" the pink cloaked Raven called out. Raven approached her and held out the gemstone. "Where's Knowledge?" she asked. "I'm right here. What do you need?" the yellow cloaked emoticlone asked her. She explained the situation with Arde and asked her what she could do. "Your line of thinking is accurate, he should be able to project himself here since you're not in the physical world. If he's in the same state as Malchior. There's no way of knowing he didn't use stronger magic to seal himself." Knowledge gave her reply with a sense of urgency. Raven sighed this meant all she could do was wait. She was trying to think of another plan of action when she noticed the stone was glowing brighter than before, she brought up to her eyes to get a closer look. It glowed brighter and it flashed. Raven fell backwards, shocked from the sudden burst of light. She was even more shocked to find that when she fell she didn't land on the grass. Instead she landed on what felt like rocks. "I've never seen this part of Nevermore..." she muttered. "That's because you're not in Nevermore." a voice said from behind her. Raven looked up to see Arde standing beside her. He looked weak and pale. His skin was drained of color, and his hair was pale red. "Where are we?" Raven asked him. "Inside of my head." Arde explained staring into the distance. The landscape was dark and dreary. The ground was covered in rocks and the few patches of grass that surrounded them seemed scorched. "You locked yourself in a stone. Why?" Raven asked him remembering the circumstances. "It was the only way to protect Jump City." he answered. "What do you mean?", "Look over there" he gestured towards something in the distance. There was a forest not far from them. Smoke could be seen rising from the treetops and flames were slowly approaching them. A red barrier was formed in front of it, but it was fading, slowly. "When that falls" he spoke slowly "I won't be the same." Raven looked up at him confused, "What is that?" she asked. Arde sat down and continued to stare at the fire that was slowly rising. "_That_ is me. Or at least, it's what I'm meant to be." he muttered, Raven looked at him waiting for him to explain. She sat in silence as she explained his life to her. Arde was born in Vertith, in an alternate dimension. His father, Virtus, was the ruler of Vertith. His mother, Gemma, was chosen to be his wife. His father had him killed when he was born because he was small. This drove Gemma to depression and she had intended to commit suicide when Nefas the Jinn came to her. He told her he could bring her son back. The price would be that Arde would be his permanent host. Gemma agreed and allowed the Jinn to take over her son's body. The baby boy's skin turned gray and his hair became a bright shade of red. He seemed perfectly normal for the first 12 years of his life until on his thirteenth birthday something horrible happened. Gemma had been teaching her son about a place called Earth when he began to scream and writhe in pain. His hands glowed red and heat radiated from his body. There was little the woman could do when he let loose an explosion of fire on the countryside. Arde didn't remember what happened, he had woken up in a temple surrounded by monks cloaked in black. They had found him unconscious a few miles from their temple. He had asked them where his mother was and they brought him a golden urn. He had reduced his own mother to ashes. Arde spent the next two years of his life learning the ways of the monks. He spent most of his time meditating and learning to control the powers of the Jinn inside of him. He changed his appearance. Dying his red hair black and trying to look as normal as he could. He went from being an energetic boy to being a passive and stoic teen. When he was 15 he decided it was time for him to go back and confront his father. Virtus had all but forgotten about his son and had moved on. He had a new son by a woman called Pellacia, at five years old he was already rude and brutal like his father. Infelic, his half-brother, had decided he hated Arde and insisted that his father get rid of him. Arde tried to explain what had happened to his mother, in the end Virtus ordered that he be killed. Arde, being passive, decided to stay with the monks. He thought his life would be peaceful until the monks explained his origin to him. Nefas was an evil Jinn. He lived to create havoc and destruction. They concluded that Nefas was making an attempt to control the boy when he had destroyed half of Vertith's countryside and killed his mother. Nefas had used humans as hosts before and used them as conductors for his destruction. Jinn were not strong enough to do damage by themselves, they need hosts to conduct their powers. Having already attempted to take over Arde's conscience once they knew he would try again. They determined that the Jinn's failure was caused by Arde's inability to contain his power. This meant that Nefas would try to escape and control him again. Arde didn't know what to do after learning this. He couldn't expel the evil being inside of him because it kept him alive. But it was inevitable that he would escape and destroy the place he called home. He resolved to leave Vertith and opened a portal to the place called Earth. He spent the next year learning how to harness Nefas' powers and use them. He mastered astral projection and learned magic with ease. It was during the encounter with Madame Rouge that he began to feel his control over Nefas' powers slip. He knew that his life was over. He would no longer be Arde. Just an empty shell for the evil Jinn to control. He had tried to hide his heritage from his new friends for as long as possible until Nefas finally made another attempt to escape from within the recesses of his mind. That was when Arde had locked his soul and physical body inside of the stone. He had done so to try and keep Nefas from getting his conscience. He had used the last of his powers to place a barrier around the forest that the Jinn resided in. Raven looked up at Arde with pain in her eyes. He was just waiting to disappear, Raven felt like crying as the realization hit her. "Why aren't you doing anything?" she asked with anger in her voice. Arde looked over at her shocked, "There's nothing I can do" he stated staring at her. "He failed before didn't he." she stated standing and walking off towards the barrier. "You really don't need to go towards that!" he called after her rising from the ground to give chase. The fire had finally burst through the trees revealing an enormous monster. It was cloaked in red flames from the waist down and appeared human. It's chest was bare and was covered in scars. Nefas frowned upon seeing the red wall in front of him. "What's this?" the creature laughed moving closer to the barrier. Raven flinched, 'Arde has this thing _inside _of him' she thought. Her own father, Trigon, came to mind as she looked at the red skin of the evil Jinn. Arde caught up to the girl and pushed her back. "I told you to stay away from it." he said plainly. Nefas continued to laugh looking down at the the two teenagers. "Don't tell me this is your attempt at stopping me?" he asked the boy. "It's not an attempt. As long as I'm in here you can't get out" he replied in a factual tone. "We shall see." he muttered, the giant placed his hand on the red wall between them. "How weak." he thought aloud as it began to fade. "Shit." Arde muttered under his breath as watched Nefas approach them. "Now. What to do?" he asked himself in a mocking tone as the two teens looked up at him dumbfounded. Arde gritted his teeth, knowing neither he nor Raven could withstand an attack from the great Jinn. "This hardly seems fair, you are only an ant to me at this height." Nefas laughed as the flames engulfed his entire body. Raven wanted to believe that the evil being was gone but she knew otherwise. Neither of them flinched as Nefas reappeared in front of them. He was shorter._ Much _shorter. He was equal in height to Arde. Not only that but he looked like his twin. They had the same height, the same build, and the same features. The only difference was their clothing. Arde was dressed in the uniform he had gotten from the Titans. Nefas was dressed in a black bodysuit and was wearing a cloak. "Now then. This seems more appropriate." he laughed in a demonic tone. "I don't get it. Why do you look like me?" Arde asked still cautious of the Jinn. "It would hardly be a fair fight were I to use my previous form." he laughed, "A fair fight?"

"Yes. You're a big boy now. Don't you think we could resolve this ourselves?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It would be pleasurable to just force my way into control, but I do think giving you a choice would cause much more pain."

"A choice?"

"Yes, a choice. If you can defeat me, I will allow you to live. And let you continue to use my powers. If you can't then I will take over your body and wreak havoc on this world."

Arde thought Nefas' proposal over in his head. He could either wait for him to force his way into his body or he could fight for his right to live. "Fine." he told the Jinn, accepting the offer. "Grand. I'd prefer to know that you will not be using any trickery in this match." he replied looking around him at Raven. Arde felt a wave of relief flow over him as he felt some of his powers return. 'I guess he wants to see who makes better use of them' he thought as he wondered why Nefas would let him use his powers. "She won't interfere" he replied as a glowing red dome appeared around Raven. She tried to break out, knowing her friend would need her help but it held strong. Nefas smiled wickedly at his host, "Very well. Shall we begin?" he uttered before rushing the gray skinned boy. Raven could do nothing but watch in horror as Nefas raised his hand. A red pillar appeared under Arde and sent him flying. Arde didn't know what to do, the only time he could solidify the power of his soul-self was when he made a barrier. Nefas continued his onslaught as more pillars appeared tossing him around. 'I can't go on like this...' the empath thought. Remembering the gold bracelets that Robin gave him Arde reached for his gloves. He pulled them from his hands and let them fall to the ground. His hands resembled lava in color and the heat radiating from them was insane. He quickly slammed the buttons on the bracelets in unison and smiled as he watched the gauntlets cover his hands. Arde was ready when the next pillar rose out of nowhere. He smirked and slammed his fist into it. It cracked. Nefas' grin fell as he watched the crack spread and eventually the pillar shattered. "How predictable." he uttered aloud. Arde regained his footing and begin his own attack. His hands were cloaked in a loose form of his soul-self. They shimmered red as he charged the evil Jinn. Nefas wanted to laugh as he watched the weak boy run at him. Raven watched from behind her cell as Arde slammed his fist down onto Nefas. The strike sent tremors of unexpected pain down his back as Nefas flew backward. Arde raised his hands once more gritted his teeth. "Ignis egressus est ad ostium , et delere. Exite, et ardebit omnis, qui habitat in hac area." he uttered as his eyes glowed black. This was the most powerful incantation he knew, it used black magic and was hard to control. The ground beneath them shook viciously as cracks began to form in its surface. Arde didn't know for sure if Raven would be completely safe but he hoped the barrier would protect her. Nefas stood shocked as the ground continued to shake beneath him. A large crack appeared in the ground and began to widen slowly. Flames began to burst their way out of the earth. Nefas continued to stand utterly still as the flames moved swiftly towards him, they snapped at his legs like whips. Nefas smiled "Fire? _Fire?!" _the wicked villain laughed, "I _am _fire. Fire rages inside my soul!" he cried out in ecstasy. Arde laughed. "Yes. You're right. You are fire. You're the fire that murdered my mom. The fire that haunted my dreams for 16 years. But you forget. This is my mind. And you live through me. Fire rages inside of me two times over." Arde replied his eyes looked as if the fire of the hottest gates of hell burned inside of them. The flames rose higher and the smile on Nefas' face dropped as he felt his skin begin to burn. "Hmph. That's quite enough." he uttered the words and sent another pillar flying towards Arde. Arde held out his hand and watched as it shattered. Nefas tried his attack again only to get the same results. Arde walked towards his enemy not flinching as the flames climbed up his skin. Nefas felt something he had never experienced before. 'Is this fear' he asked himself. "Yes." the boy stated now only a few feet away from him. "You will go back." he said raising a red cloaked hand. "You will go away and leave me alone. Without me you will die and the same goes for me." he told the Jinn. Nefas stared at him, 'He thinks he can control me?' he laughed though he knew the boy's words were true. "Leave Nefas. Or I will kill you and me both right here." Arde said still unwavering as flames ripped the flesh from their skin. Raven watched in horror, 'They're already dying, if either of them stays in those flames for any longer they'll be burned to a crisp.' she thought, Arde's barrier was still holding strong against the fire surrounding them. Nefas and Arde remained staring at each other. It appeared as if Arde was staring into a mirror. Nefas nodded slowly at his host and returned to his former height. Arde willfully forced the ground to close, and fell to his knees. "I will leave. For now. "Nefas uttered before heading back in the direction of the ravished forest. Arde remained on his knees desperately trying to catch his breath. The barrier around her dropped and she made her way to his side. She didn't say anything, she just watched as he got back to his feet. He stood, a blank expression on his face. "Aequaliter veritatis ignem wall ego in virtute continent odium claudite ostium usque ad tempus horae." he uttered the incantation as a black wall formed around the perimeter of Nefas' forest. Arde looked at the new barrier for what seemed like forever before walking back over to Raven. "You can leave now. I don't think I can break out of here on my own after all." he half-whispered to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and a bright flash occurred.

(9:00, Raven's Room)

Raven blinked her eyes noticing she was back in her room. Looking out the window she realized just how long she had been gone. The sun was gone, and the moon was high in the sky. Arde had sent her back. 'He's still stuck inside of the stone.' she thought to herself. She thought back to what had happened with the dragon Malchior. There was a way to get him back. It would be a long time before she would have everything in order to free her friend but there was a way nonetheless. Raven place the red stone containing her friend on a table beside her bed. There was a knock at Raven's door, "Ummm, Rae you've been in your room for like nine hours now... I know you're upset and all but Robin needs us for a meeting." she could hear the green changeling say through the door. "I'm coming." she answered rising from her bed and walking out the door. She didn't have the energy to chastise BeastBoy for calling her 'Rae'. She walked alongside the green boy to the main room. "You were in there for a long time Raven. Did you get him back?" BeastBoy asked her. "Does it look like I did?" she replied. BeastBoy flinched at the acid in her voice. They entered the room to find the other titans, looking defeated, lying about the room. Cyborg and Starfire sat slumped on sofa, her beloved pet Silkie lay in a corner of the room looking sullen as well. The Boy Wonder was standing with his back turned to them as he stared at the window. He turned back towards the arriving Titans, letting his cape whip as he did so. "So?" he uttered staring at the pale skinned girl. "I can get him back. It'll take me a few days to get the materials I need to do so, but it's possible." Raven uttered removing her hood. "Oh joyous day! Friend Arde is not indeed lost?!" the alien girl jumped for joy before rushing forward to hug her friends. Struggling to catch her breath after Starfire had successfully strangled her Raven managed to say "No Star he's not lost." Raven was glad that she had met Malchior now. If she hadn't Arde could be stuck inside of that stone for thousands of years.

Arde sighed, he would be stuck inside of his Zenalite stone for who knows how long before Raven could get him out. He resolved to train, 'If I can gain nothing else from this I will at least come out of this place stronger' he thought to himself as he crossed his legs and began to meditate. "Melvorak...Vertith...Sendros..." he uttered slowly letting the wave of relief he felt rush over him. He hadn't meditated in such a long time that he had begun to think his powers were always erratic. He sat still for more than 3 hours repeating his mantra with his eyes closed. Arde eventually got up and allowed his hands to be covered in the red energy had he grown accustomed to. He spent a large amount of time lifting patches of the ground beneath him into the sky before chunking them into the distance. He then decided he should work on controlling his spells. He found a clearer area before muttering quietly almost to himself "Iudices, invoco per flammas exquiret iudicatur" Flames began to burst from the ground and turned inward on themselves repeatedly, awaiting Arde's judgment. He called it his 'Jury of Flames' spell it caused flames to seep up from the ground and seek out all the caster deemed unworthy. They sought out the judged. It was the spell that had incinerated his mother. Though he had no idea what was happening back then, the flames simply lashed out at the nearest object. The monks eventually taught him how to use it. Now he could control it perfectly if he wanted them to rise they rose, if he deemed someone unworthy the flames would burn them to the ground. This time he just sent them back into the ground. After Nefas had agreed to stay within his confines, Arde felt as if he had grown stronger. For the first time he felt completely in control of his powers, like he didn't have to worry about hurting anyone anymore. 'What now.' he thought to himself 'I could just go back home, I wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone.' he continued. He did want to go home, he wanted to confront his father. But he also wanted to stay with his new friends. He began to understand the importance of his life as a Titan. He was a hero, and Jump City was his home as well. There was no point in deciding now he resolved. Either way it went he was going to be homesick. Arde looked around the expanse that was his mind. It was empty, the ground resembled the land around a volcano. The sky was red and there was no sun or clouds to be seen. Half of the area was blocked off as a place to confine Nefas. Nefas' half of his mind was much darker, the sky was more of a blood red sky and the ground was clearly charred. The trees were all dead and black. The Hell's Fire spell had left him practically scorched from the waist down. It didn't hurt, he was used to being burned. His uniform was burnt and black. "I wonder how long it will be before Raven can get me out of here?" he asked himself. Nefas was sitting on the other side of the barrier looking intently at the boy. He was shrunken back to his human appearance. He continued to stare at his counterpart in deep thought as a wicked smile made its way to his face.

(9:30 Raven's Room)

Raven had spent the last half hour getting the things she needed for the incantation. She was sitting in the floor surrounded by various tomes and different volumes. It was an extremely difficult spell to pull off, as it required a lot of power to cast. There was a spellbook in front of her, it contained the spell that would hopefully release her closest friend from his red prison. She gestured her hand over the book and spoke the incantation "Hezberek Et Morine...Gost Wenthen Verbis Nex...Ind Obrium, Bis Pendrule...Paran Sic Cortis Rex!" she chanted as the tomes around her began to glow white. It was a blinding light that quickly began to consume the room. Raven raised her arm over her eyes to protect them from the bright light. She kept her arm raised until the room had returned to its previous state. She lowered her arm to see a gray skinned teen in front of her. He was staring blankly at the floor as if he was stunned. "Took you long enough." he uttered as he headed for the door. "You're welcome." she replied angrily. She had practically just saved his life and he completely disregarded her. She was going to say something else to him but he had already headed out of the room. Raven was visibly confused, Arde was normally so nice towards her. She didn't think it was a side effect of the spell so this had to be him. She was still thinking about what had happened when a loud crash could be heard from the common room. She rushed towards the sound sensing that something was wrong. What she saw as the doors slid away was almost as horrific as Jump City during the short time that Trigon had taken over. The window was smashed open and Robin was hanging on to the floor with the rest of his body dangling outside the broken window. Arde was standing just in front of him his hands glowing. Robin gritted his teeth as he swung himself back into the tower. He landed a few feet behind him already wielding his collapsible staff. Starfire was standing near them with a shocked expression. Robin glared at the person he thought was his friend not wanting to harm him. "Arde, what in the hell was that?!" he demanded as the empath turned around. "Nothing. I'm just getting tired of your thinking you can tell me what to do." he replied in monotone. "I'm the leader. I give the orders" he stated narrowing his eyes. "Now I _order _you to stand down." the Boy Wonder continued. Arde gritted his teeth and smirked at the teen hero. He raised his hands and sent a disk of red light flying towards the masked hero. Robin dashed forward narrowly missing the projectile that would have decapitated him. Raven continued to stare as the scene unfolded. Arde was attacking Robin, their _leader_. Robin had charged the gray teen and swung his staff at him forcefully. Arde raised a red barrier just in time to block the attack and roundhouse kicked the Boy Wonder. Robin raise his arms and caught his opponents leg, he still ended up getting pushed back some distance. It was then that Raven realized what was going on and went to the aide of her leader. "Arde what are you doing!?" she yelled at the enraged teen. He didn't reply to her question, instead he smiled and continued his attack. 'This isn't Arde. He would never attack his friends on purpose like this.' she thought as she dodged and blocked his attacks. Arde had kicked Robin hard enough to send him back out of the window and he was trying his hardest to hold on. Starfire went to his aide and pulled him back inside of the Tower. Raven and Arde were staring at each other, each of them had their hands raised. Raven was still reluctant about attacking her friend. Arde didn't seem to concerned he looked as if he just wanted to see what the empath would do. "Melvorak Vertith Sendros!" he chanted as red blades formed in front of him. Raven blinked in horror as they quickly headed for her. She hurried to shield herself to no avail. The blades easily pierced her barrier and sent her flying into the wall. Robin once again charged his new enemy. He was not going to let him get away with hurting his family. Arde looked at the Boy Wonder with a horrendous smile on his face. Robin raised his bo staff once more and swung, just as the empath faded into the floor. He was gone.

A/N: So there's chapter 4! It's a cliff hanger-y type thing. Don't worry Arde isn't evil or anything that will all be explained later. Also the need for a main villain is still needed but I'm thinking that it won't be until at least the 7th chapter because after the fourth chapter things are intended to get a bit fluffy. :3

Soooo yep R/R if you will, it will make me a happy snowman!

The challenge presented in the previous chapter still stands so anyone know the song?

Next chapter should be up in a few days because I literally haven't even started.


	5. Chapter 5

Here to do the disclaimer we have Arde and Raven!

Well go on guys...disclaim!

Arde: What?

Raven: Disclaim what?

That I don't own the Teen Titans...

Raven: Damn right you don't own me

Just do it!

Raven&Arde: Fine...starcarved in no way owns the Teen Titans

Was that so hard?

Raven: Excruciatingly so.

(1 Hour before the Events of Last Chapter)

Arde was confused. He was no longer in his mind, his inner home. He was surrounded by darkness. It seemed as if he was floating. 'Did Raven do it?' he asked himself. He knew the answer was no he wasn't in the tower and he wasn't in his mind. Looking around he saw what he knew he'd find, more darkness. Arde groaned in disbelief, 'My life has really been going nowhere lately.' he thought to himself. Suddenly there was a bright light. It was warm yet eerily suspicious. The empath made his way towards it cautiously he couldn't think of anything to be afraid of, it just seemed like caution would be necessary. He headed into the white light until its brightness caused him to close his eyes. The blinding light eventually faded and he reopened them. "What? I'm just back here" he thought aloud as he took in the sight of the rocky black ground and flaming trees. Flaming trees. Arde flung his head back to the forest behind him. The trees were burning. The trees didn't burn on his side. He ran for the barrier with his heart pounding in his chest. The magic that split the two halves of his mind blocked out any form of spell or incantation used on it. He had trapped himself on _his _side. The barrier was in sight and he could almost the other side. There were no blazing plants and the ground was not scorched. "How did I..." he muttered out loud with fear visible in his eyes. He was staring straight into the eyes of a very familiar face. It was his own but the expression this one bore was much much darker. Nefas smiled at his counterpart. "Aren't you foolish." he stated poking the red barrier tenderly. "How...?" Arde mumbled still visibly shaken. Nefas' grin widened at these words. "Not important." he sing-songed. "What do you mean 'not important'?", "I mean you have bigger things to worry about." "What." the look of fear in Arde's eyes deepened into one of utter terror. "When I possess your soul, I'll say things. Even use you as my personal play thing." the evil jinn sang in anticipation. Arde was frozen in shock. He thought he had finally put this behind him, now he realized there was nowhere to hide. This thing would always be fighting for control. This time it looked like it had won. Arde gritted his teeth angrily as his legs gave out on him. He was on his knees separated from the one being he hated by the wall he made. 'This was meant for him not _me_.' the teen thought slamming his fist into the mass of energy. "Oh now that's not going to work. This wall of yours couldn't be destroyed by even me!" Nefas laughed, Arde continued yelling and trying to break the barrier until a flash of light was seen. It was a beam coming straight from the sky and into the ground. "Ah well, it looks like I'll be going now." he smiled throwing his cloak to the ground and heading for the beam. Arde wanted to do something, anything, to keep him from escaping. But all he could do was stand and watch as his inner villain escaped into the real world.

(Present Time)

Nefas was glad to be free, his surrogate body was stronger than he had remembered. He could feel the cool air on his skin as he stood. It felt nice to be able to move, being trapped in a small space for so long had drove him close to insanity. He sighed and let his legs fall over the side of the tower. The Teen Titans were the least of his worries, they had barely laid a hand on him a few minutes ago. Nefas rose, 'Still it would not be very smart to stay here any longer.' the jinn thought to himself. 'Havoc. What an odd word.' he laughed as he once again faded into the ground. Earth was a place new to him he had never been there before after all. He picked his targets carefully, a park, a busy intersection, a mall. All of them mysteriously engulfed in flames. Nefas had arrived on the site of his newest target, a school, when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Arde! Stop right there! What're you doing!?" the Boy Wonder yelled to him. "Knock knock." he uttered tapping his knuckles onto his own head before fading into the ground. "Shit. Keep an eye out guys." the masked boy mumbled as the five teens spread out. BeastBoy shifted into a bloodhound and put his nose to the ground. "Arde. Silly name don't you agree?" the Titans turned to find the source of the question. Nefas was leaning against a nearby building staring intently at his hands. Robin reached for his belt grabbing a multitude of birdarangs before replying. "Silly, maybe but what's sillier is why you're doing this. What is wrong with you Arde." he answered. The jinn snapped his head up at his opponent before raising his faintly glowing hand. "Ignus Spiritus." he uttered in a deadly tone. Robin's cape burst with fire, "I do not like being referred to by that name." said the jinn. Robin let a grunt escape his lips before he cut his cape loose with the tip of his birdarang. Nefas allowed his smile to return to his face before turning back towards the school. "Ignus Spiritus." he uttered the familiar words as the closest part of the building burst to life with flames. Screams could be heard as the children tried to escape. "Raven! BeastBoy! Go help them, make sure everyone gets out safely!" Robin ordered his companions as he grabbed his collapsible staff and charged his adversary. The jinn looked back over his shoulder and sighed as he saw the Boy Wonder. "Incredibly dull you are." he raised his pale hand and sent a blast of red energy straight at the teen. Robin lowered himself in time to dodge it and brought his staff up to attack. He brought it down onto the gray villain only for it to be caught by another red construct. With a flick of his wrist the teen had been sent flying across the street. "Boring." he added as a starbolt came towards him at astonishing speed. Swiftly, Nefas blocked the green ball of energy with another of his barriers. Starfire glared angrily as she watched her once friend deflect her attack. She unleashed another onslaught of starbolts hoping to hit her mark. A cloud of smoke was soon around the jinn obstructing him from view. The remaining titans looked on as it cleared. He was still there. Still standing unharmed.

(Inside the School)

Raven and BeastBoy had raced into the halls of the burning building as soon as Robin gave the order. BeastBoy had turned into a cheetah for speed as he quickly cleared all the classrooms. They had gotten all of the children and faculty out in under five minutes and were heading back to the others. The violet haired empath stared intently ahead of her as the evacuated the building. "Raven. There's something wrong with him, there has to be! Arde would never do this on purpose!" the changeling yelled to her as he tried to keep up. He wanted to know that someone, anyone, still believed in their friend. "I know BeastBoy. This isn't him." she replied deep in thought. She had an idea as to what was wrong with her friend it just didn't make sense to her. BeastBoy sighed in relief, someone else knew there was something wrong here. Someone else cared. Raven was always there for him when he was worried. Out of all of the titans she was the one he felt closest to. They had finally made their way back outside to find that the fire had begun to spread to the rest of the school. "What do we do?" the changeling asked his friend, they couldn't leave it alone or else the fire could spread across the entire area. Raven looked back over her shoulder at her friends. Robin was beginning to tire, Starfire wasn't even airborne anymore, and as for Cyborg his systems were giving off large amounts of steam as he repeatedly fired sonic cannon. They needed help. "I'll take care of it. Go help the others." she monotoned as her eyes glowed white. BeastBoy nodded and took off towards his friends. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." she mumbled as the burning section of the building was engulfed in a bubble of dark energy. She raised her hands trying to keep her hold on the mass of energy long enough for the fire to lose oxygen. The bubble wavered and shook as the empath struggled. Eventually the flames died down and she released her hold on the building. The school was still engulfed in smoke, but she had managed to put out the fire. Raven wanted to yell, her powers were becoming erratic. 'I can't think straight.' she thought to herself as she raced back towards her friends. She knew her feelings affected her powers but with all of the thoughts that were clouding her mind she couldn't concentrate. The empath had finally reached the group of teenagers just as "Arde" threw Cyborg into a nearby car. The cybernetic teen left quite a large dent in the vehicle, one that the titans would most likely have to pay for. Raven called on the power of Azarath once more lifting a chunk of concrete from the ground and heaving it at Nefas. He was caught off guard as the giant mass slammed into him. He fell to the ground with it smothering him. Raven lifted the giant object a few feet above him before dropping it again a demonic smile plastered on her face. The others watched on in horror as black tendrils came from beneath her cloak. Nefas looked up at the demon-like girl before him to find himself staring into four bright red eyes. Raven continued to raise and drop the concrete piece onto his body finding the look of pain on his face pleasurable. "Raven!" Robin called to her, "That's enough! Stop!" he pleaded. She paid little attention to her leader as she continued her attack. "Raven, please..." the changeling begged from beside her. She looked down at the green boy angrily. BeastBoy didn't flinch as those four red eyes bore into his. He knew Raven would never hurt him, or any of the titans for that matter. Her evil grin faded into that of a frown as the black tentacles retreated into her cloak. Her eyes were soon back to their deep purple shade. Nefas was unconscious, lying limp on the ground.

(Titans Tower Infirmary)

"Cyborg. We've been standing her for half an hour. Do you know what's wrong with him yet?" Robin asked. "Physically his fine, that is until you get up here." Cyborg replied tapping his head. "There is something wrong with friend Arde's head?" Starfire implied. "More specifically his brain, Star. His brain activity is all over the place" he added staring intently at the scanner on his arm. "Meaning?" the Boy Wonder asked. Cyborg looked at his scanner for a few seconds longer and pressed a few buttons. A large screen dropped down from the sky with two images on it. Cyborg pointed at the first one which was apparently an image of Arde's brain activity. "This is an image that was taken the day of Madame Rouge's attack." he said matter of factly. The image was simple, it seemed normal enough. There was a line going up and down at what looked like a steady pace. "This..." Cyborg began as he pointed at the second image. "...is from today." the others looked shocked by what they saw. The second image was extremely irregular. Not only was the line erratic and increasing and decreasing at different speeds, but there were two. "It's like there two different people inside his brain. One of the scans shows erratic activity, and the other shows calmer activity like he's in a coma or something." the cybernetic teen finished. Raven stood against the wall deep in thought. 'Should I tell them about _him_' she thought to herself as she listened to her friend's explanation. None of the others knew about Arde's "other half" so to speak. 'If I tell them then maybe we can figure out how to help him.' she thought. 'Or they might just kill him...' she heard Timid speak out in her mind. Raven raised her fingers to her head and massaged her temples. "So you're saying that there is someone else inside his mind making him do this?" Robin asked looking down at his unconscious teammate. "That's what it looks like." Cyborg replied. "What do we do friend Robin?" Starfire asked. "I don't know, Star. We barely know anything about him as it is." the Boy Wonder replied. Arde lay still, he was held down by restraints as a safety precaution. "Guys..." Cyborg uttered as he stared at the panel in his arm. "What is it?" Robin asked stepping beside him. "The second scan, it's getting more active. I think he's waking up." Cyborg finished looking back at the limp boy constrained on the infirmary bed.

(Arde's Mind) (Note to self... really need a name for this place.)

Arde had been attacking the wall relentlessly ever since Nefas left. He had to get out. If he didn't his friends could die. 'It's been at least two hours now...Jump City could be destroyed...' he thought as he collapsed to the ground. He began to rise again before he fainted. Arde opened his eyes to find himself floating in that same darkness once more. He was weightless it seemed as he hovered slowly. Suddenly he found himself falling, he screamed out as he saw the ground beneath him. He closed his eyes tight as the earth got closer. He waited for death...but it never came. Opening his eyes he found himself standing up right on his feet on a lonely road. It seemed familiar to him. It was more of a path than a road he realized as he looked around. He was in the middle of nowhere. Still there was something familiar about this place. 'I'm home...' he thought to himself as he remembered where he was. "This is where it happened..." he thought aloud as his heart dropped. "Mom." he mumbled falling to his knees. He was back in Vertith on the road where he'd killed his mother. Arde fought back tears as he realized there was someone else there. He looked up to see the silhouette of a woman. She was standing in front of him with her back to him. Her dark hair fell gracefully down her back. She turned to look back at him revealing her slender neck and face. Her features were delicate, it seemed like if you touched her she would crumble to pieces. Her eye were a dark amber color. "Mom?" Arde called to her, she smiled and began to walk away. "Mom! Wait, it's me!" he yelled as he rose to his feet. He chased after her with tears streaming from his face. His mom wasn't dead. She was here, she was alive. Arde smiled as he ran after his mother. She never turned back to face him, she slowly began to get farther and farther away. Arde desperately tried to catch her, he ran as fast as he could but never got any closer. He was still running when the scene changed. He was back in the temple where he grew up. He was in a room he'd never seen before. It was dark, a few candles dimly lit the room. There was someone else there behind him, he was sure it was his mother but he couldn't move. "Never fall asleep. You won't wake up." she said before the floor fell from beneath him leaving Arde to fall helplessly yet again.

(Infirmary)

The other titans looked on as Arde flung his eyes open. He was breathing heavily and fighting against his restraints. "Arde!" Robin yelled at him, "Calm down, you're alright dude!" BeastBoy added jumping forward to keep his friend from hurting himself. The empath slowly began to calm down and stop moving as he realized where he was. "What happened? What did I do?!" he yelled in fear as he looked at his condition. "You destroyed a few parks and buildings. But no one is hurt. Is there something we should know?" the Boy Wonder told him as he looked questioningly at the teen. Robin trusted all of his teammates but after being with the Dark Knight for so long he knew that not everyone would be who they said they were. "I-I don't know. I was waiting for Raven to help me and I ended up on the wrong side of the wall..." he knew his words wouldn't make sense to the spiky-haired hero. "What? Do you think this is a joke!? You just destroyed a school for fucks sake! People could have died!" the Boy Wonder yelled angrily. Arde flinched, he knew that Nefas had probably wrecked a few things, but he never expected that he would have attacked a school. He didn't say anything else he was ashamed. "Robin. Arde didn't do anything it wasn't him." Raven spoke up from across the room. "What the hell do you mean 'it wasn't him'!?" he yelled back at her. Raven looked at him intently," It just wasn't." she replied looking back at the gray empath in front of her. "Tell them." she commanded him. Arde nodded before relaying his story to his teammates. He told them everything from his death to his rebirth. At the end his friends began to look at him with sadness in their eyes. Few of them knew the other's_ entire_ past, and Arde had just told them his life history. Starfire leapt forward and trapped him in a hug. She was crying. "Star..." he coughed out "Please...I can't breathe...". Starfire let go of him and moved back to Robin's side sniffling. Robin stepped forward and deactivated the restraints allowing him to get up. "Welcome back, Arde." he smiled as he patted his friend's shoulder. The empath smiled and looked around. Raven was gone. He frowned and furrowed his brow. The others looked at him confused before realizing the cause of his discomfort. "Go ahead and leave dude!" BeastBoy said to him with a grin. He pushed him towards the door laughing all the way. Arde tried to protest but the changeling had already pushed him out and closed the door. "Well I guess, I have no other choice." he mumbled before heading down the corridor.

Raven was standing on the roof of the tower letting her cloak fan about in the wind. The sun was setting. Arde was back to normal it seemed but she still felt uneasy. Right before he woke up he had been screaming in pain like he was being shredded to pieces, it made her hurt beyond words. She sighed and sat down in confusion. She wasn't supposed to feel like this. She spent her life dedicated to _not_ feeling like this. Arde made her happy, and unbelievably angry all at the same time. She began to massage her temples again as she let out a groan of annoyance. "Raven?" a familiar voice sounded from behind her. "What." she monotoned as he came to sit beside her. "You left back there...I just wanted to know if you were alright." he said back to her. "I'm fine." she uttered. "Okay. Why are you up here then?", "I wanted to think.", "About what?", "Everything.". The empath was becoming visibly annoyed as Arde continued to talk. She wanted to throw him into the bay but that wouldn't solve anything. Plus, she didn't really want him to leave. It had gotten unusually quiet the empath noticed. She looked beside her to find that the gray skinned teen was now staring at her. She quickly turned her head as a pink tint made its way to her cheeks. The sun was now gone and the moon reined above them in the sky. Arde turned back towards the scene in front of them. "I like the moon." he told her smiling. Raven looked back up at him, "Don't you think it's a bit dark?" "There's nothing wrong with being dark, plus the moon has the stars with it to brighten it up." he added looking down at the violet haired girl next to him. Raven stared back at him unable to speak. "In a way, the stars and the moon are both dark. When the moon is alone the stars are there to keep it company, and when the stars alone the moon is there to keep them company too." he finished looking into Raven's purple eyes. 'Wow...' the empath thought to himself, 'Raven really is beautiful'. Arde began to lean closer to her just as Cyborg came out of the door. "You two are about to miss the movie!" he yelled as he walked closer to them. He was still rambling on about the movie when he noticed the shade of their faces. "Oh was I...interrupting...something?" he asked as he backed away from the two teens. "Nope!" they answered in unison rising from the edge of the roof. "I am going to bed." Raven monotoned before heading for the stairs. "Me too." Arde answered fading quickly into the floor.

A/N:

There's another chapter. A bit short this time around but I hoped you liked it! Next chapter will be a bit fluffy and hopefully funny. There was a brief description of Arde's mother in there, for those who were wondering. And just to clear something up the jinn are kind of like genies...as in they can't really do much unless they have a host. BUT NEFAS IS NOTHING LIKE GENIE FROM ALADDIN. But here are some translations for some of the names

Arde: Burn

Virtus: strength

Nefas: sin

Gemma: gem

Pellacia: seductress

Also how Nefas was able to switch with Arde will be explained in a later chapter.

Anywayzies, review?

-starcarved


	6. Chapter 6

**(Arde's Room)**

"That was unexpected.." the pale teen sighed.

He walked to his bed and allowed his body to fall limp. He had almost kissed Raven. _Almost._ The word lingered in his head, why did Cyborg have to show up at that exact moment? Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his mass of red hair.

'_Still need to dye that.." _he thought to himself.

Outside his window it was dark, screams of terror could be heard from the common room. '_Horror movie.' _he answered the unspoken question.

He could take a nap, he realized as a yawn escaped his mouth.

"I'm sure no one would be committing crimes at this hour.." he mumbled. Arde let the screams of his comrades fade into nothing as he closed his eyes.

**(Meanwhile in Raven's room...)**

'_What in the hell was that!?'_ she screamed in her own mind.

Was she really about to kiss him a few moments ago? And why the hell hadn't she just teleported like Arde did? She had to walk pass the common room and be badgered by her friends because of her stupidity. The empath paced around her room in deep thought.

"He's lucky I didn't send him flying into the bay..." she muttered running her hands through violet hair.

She was visibly flustered as she continued about her room.

'That _cannot _happen again.' she told herself.

'**_And why not? It was fun wasn't it?'_**the red clad emotion, that held the feeling of lust, asked her.

"No." she answered under her breath.

'_**You're**_** lying.'** she sing songed.

"No I'm not. Go away." Raven said trying to block the emoticlone's words from her mind.

'_**Whatever you say.**__**Raven.'**_Rage finished leaving her counterpart to think.

"She was agreeable today." she uttered.

Raven went over the events that had occured once more, they had been talking and the next thing she knew they were just inches away from kissing. Cyborg's interruption had bothered her a bit, but it was still good that he had done so. She thought things over for a few minutes longer before collapsing on her bed. She needed to meditate. Not only did she want to meditate she _desparately _needed to meditate. The empath assumed her meditation position and rested her hands on her knees. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos" she stated her mantra clearly. She floated with ease above her bed with her cape hanging behind her.

**(The Next Day in the Commons Room)**

"Are you sure dude!?" the green changeling said excitedly to his friend.

"Yeah, B! I saw it with my own eyes! Er.. eye!" he laughed as he spoke.

Cyborg new that what he had seen the previous not was not 'nothing' as the two empaths had suggested.

"So...uh...what to we do? We can't bother Rae about it cause she might send us to an alternuh...aldernad...alter...".

"Alternate dimension." Cyborg suggested.

"Um, yeah that! Anyway I wouldn't feel to safe about messin' with Arde either...I mean the other day he almost ended all five of us!" the changeling almost yelled.

"Well yeah..but that was like some other Arde or somethin'. Raven can be a bit hard to get close to though...so maybe we should _help _him out?" the cybernetic teen wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah! He's not really from here so I'm sure we could mess with him just a _little _in the process!" he grinned as his pointed fang protruded from his mouth.

They were still snickering to themselves about their plans when Robin walked in, with an excited Starfire behind him.

"Morning guys! Know where the others are?" the spikey-haired teen asked.

"Nah! Probably still sleeping or meditating or whatever it is they do in the morning" BeastBoy implied munching on his tofu-smothered toast.

"We must awaken our friends at once! Friend Robin has most wondrous news today!" the Tamaranean princess smiled excitedly.

"That's fine Star, we can just tell them later." the Boy Wonder told her before turning back to the two in front of him. "The mayor is having ball tonight in our honor tonight. It's really important that _everyone_ is on their best behavior, after the incident the other day we can't let the mayor doubt our abilities as a team." he explained giving the two more childish titans a stern look.

BeastBoy continued to eat mumbling something along the lines of 'It's not like I'm a kid' before nodding his aknowledgement. Cyborg laughed nervously, "Alriiiight dude, we gotcha." he shrugged moving over to the stove. Robin watched him turn the stove on and grab some bacon from the fridge.

"Uh... Star! Remember that thing I wanted to show you!? Well I'm gonna show you now so come on!" he grabbed the red haired girl's hand and drug her from the room; in an attempt to avoid hearing the ensuing argument. The door had just swished closed when a loud and irritated 'dude!' could be heard.

Starfire stood confused, "What was this thing you desire to show me Robin?" she asked.

"Oh..uh, Cyborg installed some new tech in the R-Cycle!" he said, he figured that wouldn't be very interesting to the Tamaranean but he _did _tell her he had something to show her. Starfire forced a smile as they headed for the garage.

Arde rose with a yawn as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. He had fallen asleep in his uniform and half of his body was on the floor. He stretched and got up from his bed. It was at least mid-morning he noted as he looked out the window. Eventually he resolved to change clothes, not that he had many anyway. He grabbed a black t-shirt from his closet and a pair of faded jeans. The teen was still half asleep as he stepped into the corridor and headed for the kitchen.

Arguing could be heard as he grew closer to his destination, he disregarded the noise as he continued onward. The door swished open to reveal a not so surprising scene. BeastBoy was yelling frantically at Cyborg as the latter prepared his breakfast. On the plates next to the stove were varieties of sausage, bacon, and ham.

"Dude, c'mon! How much meat are you gonna eat!? I mean** HALF** of you is **METAL**." the green teen argued.

"It's not like I'm eating any of that tofu crap!" he rebuttled.

Arde sighed in annoyance as he made his way towards the two. "Shut up. You two are lowering the IQ of the entire city." he interupted them with glowing red eyes.

"Oh..um hey Arde!" BeastBoy said awkwardly smiling.

Arde turned towards him with an eyebrow raised.

"Sooooo...Raven huh?" Cyborg asked him.

Arde's face faltered at his statement.

"W-What about Raven?" he asked.

"Don't act like you don't know what we're talking about."said Cyborg.

"Yeah, but I mean...you sure know how to pick 'em!" the changeling laughed.

The empath looked on confusedly as the two talked.

"Disregarding that last statement...Rob says the mayor's having a ball in our honor you know formal thing suits, ties, tuxedos, that kind of thing. Which also means you need to take a date" Cyborg explained with a smirk.

"So?" he asked trying to figure things out in his still groggy mind.

"So you can take Raven!" the changeling yelled a little too loudly earning a firm punch from Cyborg.

"Owww.." he mumbled rubbing his sore arm. Arde liked the idea of dancing with the violet-haired girl, but he figured his chances of getting her to go with him were slim. He thought about his words carefully before daring to say them.

"How do I get her to go?" he asked the two.

"That's the simple part." the changeling siad with a sly grin. Arde couldn't help but feel like this would be the end of him.

**(A Few Hours Later)**

Arde sighed, they had given him an entire list of things to do for the violet-haired empath. He knew that this was most likely some kind of prank but he couldn't see the harm in any of the things listed. The list wasn't very elaborate, it could probably be called generic at most,

Step 1: Make her feel special, tea and things. This is Raven we're talking about.

Step 2: She LOVES chickens. Alot.

Step 3: Sometimes she likes music...might want to look into that.

Step 4: Waffles. Lots of them.

Step 5: Not much more you can do but ask after all that.

P.S.: She likes horror movies, but for gods sake DONT watch Wicked Scary. WE'RE SERIOUS DUDE DONT.

Arde held the piece of paper limply in his hands...chickens? Really? He looked at the second step with a skeptical look. He decided that one could go unfollowed as he heard a high-pitched laugh from outside his door. The empath frowned and ripped a portal just large enough for his hand into the air next to him. He let loose a small blast into the void before going back to his thoughts. He smirked as a loud 'Ow!' could be heard from outside.

He walked into the hallway to see BeastBoy lying on the ground clutching at the side of his face. He admired his marksmanship before heading to his destination. He reached the empaths door in a matter of seconds.

"Raven?" he called to her through the metal between them. He could barely hear the words "...Metrion Zinthos".

"Meditating." he uttered to himself, he hated entering her room without permission but he figured this was a good reason.

He sighed before easily phasing through the solid structure.

"Raven." he called again eyes closed.

There was no answer. He had intended to call her again but soon found himself on the floor.

"What in the hell.." he muttered looking for the source of his fall.

He concluded he had been hit by one of the various objects that were flying about the room. Raven sat on her bed, eyes closed, with a frustrated look on her face. She desperately continued to repeat her mantra as her belongings continued to fly about the room.

"Raven!" Arde called louder trying to reach the troubled empath.

He ducked as a thick tome came barreling towards him. The book went over his head as he stuck low to the ground. After dodging more things including small stone busts, more books, and a few still lit candles he had made his way to the girl.

He grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently, "Raven! Snap out of it!" he yelled, the empath's eyes shot open causing the flying objects to fall back to the floor.

Raven pushed him away and glared at him, "I was meditating" she said calmly observing the area.

"Does that usually involve statues and books turning your room into a war zone?" he replied sarcastically. "Yes. It does." said Raven in her normal monotone. "There's no point in beating around the bush. I am going to buy you a chicken." the empath said; having forgotten half of the ideas suggested on the list.

BeastBoy laughed from outside the door, "Dude he fell for it!" he called to someone.

Arde flinched at the words, his eyes turning a different shade of crimson.

"Nevermind." he said fading into the floor. Raven smirked slightly as she heard the changeling's pleas for mercy a few moments later.

Robin walked into the common room with Starfire by his side. She had been talking about the dance for the past two hours and it was starting to get to him. He loved spending time with her but that was _all she talked about._ Cyborg's head and midsection sat on the couch while his legs and arms lay on the floor.

"Nah man, I said the _right _leg!" he yelled to the green teen in front of him.

BeastBoy stood before him with a confused look on his face, "What's the difference!?" the changeling yelled, "If I had my hands right now I'd kill you!" Cyborg growled angrily.

Robin and Starfire looked on with confused looks.

"Guys?" the Boy Wonder called.

"What!?" they said in unison.

"Have either of you seen Arde or Raven yet?" asked the teen.

BeastBoy and Cyborg froze and turned slowly towards him. "No." they said, before turning back to the issue at hand.

Robin shrugged off their behavior and headed for the fridge. The common room door swished open to reveal a blue clad Raven. She walked into the kitchen area to prepare her tea. Robin took a bottle of water from the refridgerator before approaching his friend.

"Mornin' Raven" he began, "Good morning." she replied.

"The mayor has invited us to a ball in our honor. It's important to be on your best behavior after what happened with Arde the other day. If you see Arde let him know." he stated before heading for the door.

"Um Star...I'm heading for the gym, so why don't you take Raven to the mall?" he told his Tamaranean friend awkwardly.

"Oh yes! Come friend Raven! The mall of shopping is a perfect place to find you a most beautious dress!" she yelled happily.

Raven froze in terror as the red haired girl flew quickly to her side. Raven tried to discourage the Tamaranean as she went on and on about different kinds of dresses and shoes. She eventually gave in and allowed her friend to drag her out of the tower. BeastBoy and Cyborg continued to struggle with his appendages. Robin walked over to them with a sigh of relief, slipping back into the room just after the two girls had left.

He made his way over to the couch and leisurely flipped onto it. "That was stressful" he mumbled grabbing the remote and turning on the large TV.

Robin looked behind him in time to see Arde phase through the floor.

"Oh, hey Arde. Cyborg tell you about the ball yet?" he asked returning his attention to the large screen in front of him.

"Yes" he mumbled walking over to the still struggling teens. The empath sighed as Cyborg's arms and legs glowed red and attatched themselves back to their proper areas. BeastBoy collapsed onto the couch, "Thank's dude, I wasn't getting _anywhere_" the changeling said.

"You're welcome. Maybe now you've learned not to lie to me." he stated before exiting the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Arde sat in boredom on the couch next to the Boy Wonder. They had gotten dressed much faster than the others and were waiting on them. Robin sat and fiddled with his tie for a few moments before turning towards his comrade.

"So, Arde, about you and Raven…" the leader of the Titans began before being interrupted.

"Why does everyone keep saying that? Raven is my friend." Arde spoke sharply.

"Yes well, don't let your friendship get in the way of the team. I'm just worried is all." Robin said staring intently at the empath.

"Don't be." Arde said drops of acid infused in his words.

The red haired teen rose from his seat and began to head for the door, he had almost reached it when it swished open. Starfire smiled at her friend as he stood in awe. The Tameranean girl stood before him in a stunning red dress. It was rather form-fitting and strapless. The red of her hair matched the tint of it almost perfectly, the dress itself seemed to make her skin glow.

"Hello friends! Friend Raven should be coming in a few moments…I believe she needed to give herself the talk of the pep before she left her room.." she said with a small frown of confusion.

Starfire made her way over to the couch and sat next to Robin. Arde looked back at the two with raised eyebrow. He resolved not to interrupt their conversation and remained standing next to the door. BeastBoy and Cyborg were the next to arrive.

"Dude don't touch the hair!" the green teen yelled to his friend as he covered his head.

"Why!? It's not like I can mess _that _up! Rob's gonna be outta hair gel for a week!" he laughed as he looked at the changelings shining hair. It was smoothed back and looked like it would be that way for awhile.

"What did you say?" Robin turned to face the two with narrowed eyes.

"Um..nothing! He was just kidding, w-weren't ya Cy?" the changeling turned to his cybernetic friend.

"Um..Yeah!" Cyborg replied looking back at the fuming Boy Wonder.

Robin glared at the two behind his mask. He was contemplating how he would destroy them when the last Titan walked through the door.

Raven emerged into the room in a black dress. It was incredibly short and strapless like Starfire's. It fit the violet haired girl like a second skin.

"Awww look at Rae, isn't she cute!" BeastBoy exclaimed before shifting into a small green kitten.

Raven turned and shot him an angered glare before walking over to the other empath.

"Let's go." She uttered the words before grabbing his arm and dragging him from the room. Robin shrugged before taking Starfire's hand and following them.

(City Hall, 8:00)

Raven stood in the corner of the large room watching the others. BeastBoy was talking excitedly to a girl that was sitting at table by herself, Cyborg was walking around the room socializing with the other attendants, Robin and Starfire were in the midst of a large crowd dancing.

Arde had gone off to get her something to drink, she was glad to be by herself again. It took a lot of effort to not be confused around the empath. She looked down at her apparel for what felt like the thousandth time that night.

'_Why did I let her talk me into wearing this?' _she asked herself.

The violet haired girl was thinking about leaving and returning to the tower when someone approached her.

"Hey there, why is a pretty girl like you over here all alone?" a large teen said as he looked her over.

Raven frowned as he followed his gaze. She normally would have thrown him out of a window but that would probably lead to Robin blowing a fuse.

"Because I want to be." She deadpanned.

"Well that just won't do. Why don't you come with me, there's a super exclusive party going on at my house right now." He smirked grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward the door.

Raven glared at the point of contact as her other hand began to glow black.

"Raven!" Arde called as he wove his way through the crowd carrying two glasses filled with a dark liquid high above his head.

Raven pulled her hand free of the of the persistent teenager's grip, relieved by the other titan's sudden appearance.

"Hey there, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Arde grinned as he finally made his way over to the two.

Raven frowned,

"Friend?" she muttered as she resentfully looked back at the other teen.

The latter glared at the red haired boy before turning on his heel and walking away from the two.

"Thanks." She deadpanned to the empath standing next to her.

"Uhh… don't mention it!" he said quickly before heading back towards the table.

"_Don't let your 'friendship' get in the way of the team." _Robin's words were still fresh in his mind as he hurried away from the violet haired Raven. The rest of the Titans had already taken their seats and had their eyes fixed on the small stage in front of them.

Jump City's mayor stood behind a podium, waving as the rest of the attendants took their seats. Arde sighed before sitting down between Cyborg and Robin, leaving Raven the remaining seat next to their Tamaranean friend.

"Good evening, my fellow citizens of Jump City! I would just like to start the night off by issuing a warm welcome to our guests of honor, the Teen Titans!" the gray haired mayor boomed from in front of them.

The team rose from their seats as the room filled with applause, after the noise had died down they resumed their previous position.

"Yes well, I do hope you all have a wonderful time. Now I will give the stage to the leader of the Teen Titans, Robin!" he grinned as he looked over to the aforementioned Boy Wonder.

Robin stood and walked up the stairs to the podium. The room cheered.

"We're more than glad to be here tonight, that's for sure. As you should all know by now, we have a new member…stand if you would Arde?" he asked looking over to the empath.

Arde did as he had been asked and stood up, he waved as he looked about the room. It stayed completely silent, the empath remained standing for a few more moments before retaking his seat.

"Arde has been a big help to the team, and we're glad to have him with us. Now, if there are any questions please feel free to ask." The Boy Wonder said to the crowd.

A reporter stood, "You claim that he is a faithful member to the Titans, but just the other day didn't he try to attack both you and innocent civilians?"

"Well our friend was going through… a difficult time that day. He wasn't really in control of his own actions." Robin gave his reply.

"But wouldn't that vulnerability make him a threat to the community?" another reporter asked.

"Honestly, yes it could. _But_, we have faith in him. None of the Titans are the same, and with the help of us, his fellow teammates, and the citizens of Jump City we can assure you Arde will never have an outbreak like that again." He replied.

Another reporter began to stand when the light fixtures burst above their heads. The party goers began to scream and panic as the room became enveloped in darkness.

"Outbreak. What an odd choice of words, don't you think Robin?" a voice spoke above the screams.

"Who are you?" Robin asked pulling a birdarang from his tuxedo jacket.

"I'm new here in this city of yours. Rather large, wouldn't you say?" the voice continued.

"That's not an answer. Show yourself!" the masked teen demanded.

"If you wish." The voice snickered.

A bright flash overtook the large room and in a matter of seconds the Boy Wonder had been knocked into a nearby wall.

"Robin!" Starfire yelled rushing to her comrade's side with glowing green hands.

"Starfire, get the mayor and the others to safety. We'll take care of this." The Boy Wonder said getting back to his feet.

"Titans go!" he called with birdarangs at the ready.

Starfire hesitated before reluctantly dashing off to help the citizens.

Arde frowned, he had heard that voice before. He searched his mind for its owner for a brief moment before going to help the others.

"So _you're _the new Titan…you don't look like anything special to me." The voice snickered in the darkness.

"And your opinion is the most valuable thing in the world to me." The empath deadpanned as he looked about the area.

The room flashed for a split second, Arde rose his hands in an attempt to block whatever attack was about to be launched at him, when he felt the shock go down his spine. The empath grew rigid as it ran it's course throughout his body.

"What…am I too fast for you?" the voice mocked as the red haired teen clenched his teeth.

"Who are you?" he managed to mumble.

"My old man named me Samson….but you can call me Lightspeed." The villain snickered as the room grew bright yet again.

Arde fell to the ground as the force of the attack hit him.

"Arde!" a familiar voice called to him, he couldn't see him but soon enough the dark room was illuminated by Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"Shit.." Lightspeed sneered as he dodged out of the way of the blast. They hadn't been able to see him so far, and he'd like to keep it that way.

Cyborg helped his friend to his feet and shook him.

"Come on, man! Star got everybody out and Rob said to regroup at the Tower. We can't fight what we can't see dude!" Cyborg assured him as the angered empath looked desperately for his attacker. Cyborg kept his hold on the smaller teen and drug him towards the nearby open window. In the moonlight he thought he could see someone standing further back in the darkness.

(Common Room)

The Titans sat around the room forlornly as their leader addressed them.

"What do we know about this guy, Cyborg?" he asked as he paced about the room.

"Not much. Arde said his name was Lightspeed. We can assume he's not from around here. I checked police reports from the surrounding cities, seems like our friend's been real busy. Six robberies were reported in the last week, most of them were jewelry stores…but one of them was this high security corporation. He stole a prototype for a military grade weapon." Cyborg replied as he looked over the screen built into his arm.

"Did you find out anything about that?" Robin questioned.

"Not really, it's top secret. They haven't released anything about to the public." The cybernetic teen replied.

BeastBoy yawned,

"So what are gonna do about this Zoomspeedy guy? I suggest a head-on attack!" spoke up from behind the couch.

"Zoomspeedy?" Arde repeated the name

"How are we supposed to do that when we don't know where he is genius?" Raven monotoned.

"Well forgive me for trying to help!" he replied.

Robin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Cyborg. What did your scanners get on him?" the Boy Wonder spoke through his teeth.

"His fighting skills are close to impeccable, although that may be on account of his speed. Even so, you can take a hit from Kid Flash without being thrown across the room. Anyway, I was able to slow down his movement…or at least as much as possible. It looks like he relies on darkness to move at full speed. If we can catch him during the day he shouldn't be too much of a problem." He answered with confidence.

"Right. Starting tomorrow morning, all of us will be patrolling twice. As for who goes with who, Raven you'll be with Cyborg. Arde, you're with BeastBoy. That's it." Robin finished before heading towards the evidence room.

(8:00 AM, The Next Day.)

Arde groaned as he attempted to block out the noise coming from outside his door.

"C'mon man! Rob said if your not out here in two minutes Rae's gonna send you to an alternate dimension!" the changeling pleaded.

"I'd like to see that" he laughed in reply as he rolled out of bed.

The empath yawned before lazily walking towards the door. BeastBoy sighed in relief as the gray skinned teen stepped out the door.

"Rob said we have to cover downtown and the harbor today." The changeling rambled as they walked towards the roof. "Uh, you can fly right?" he continued.

Arde looked over at the green teen with a frown before continuing up the stairway. BeastBoy shrugged,

"I'll take that as a yes then!" he replied racing after him.

The changeling ran for the edge of the roof and leapt into the air. His arms turned wings, and his body became cloaked in feathers. Arde jumped into the air after the green falcon.

The two flew over the city, eyes scanning the area for signs of danger. They remained airborne for what seemed like forever before the two landed on a roof.

"See anything?" the empath asked.

"Nothing, it's pretty calm out today…I mean we haven't even ran into a _common _criminal!" BeastBoy replied with a toothy grin.

"Right, well, let's head back to the tower. The others are probably back now anyway." Arde sighed before taking to the sky once more.

They traveled in silence, not awkward silence, just silence. BeastBoy occasionally questioned, or even doubted, if they could trust the red haired teen. Sometimes he felt like it was best just to not talk around him. Arde kept his eyes on the city below him, deep in thought. He was still watching when a large explosion could be heard in the distance.

"What the hell was that!?" Arde yelled coming to a hault.

He nodded to the falcon next to him, before heading off towards the sound.

BeastBoy sped ahead of the empath and landed on a nearby building. Arde was soon by his side, below them was an alley. The building across for them lie in ruin, a mass of rubble had collected at its base. The green changeling dropped down into the wreckage before shifting into a bloodhound. The empath soon followed landing swiftly and wading through the mess.

"Dude…" BeastBoy uttered having returned to human form.

He held up a torn blue cloth, his eyes held nothing but fear. Arde stared at the torn fabric frozen in place. He mouthed words, but no sound escaped his lips. The hero's eyes flashed red for a brief moment before he began frantically lifting and throwing masses of rocks.

"Raven! Raven, where are you!?" he yelled as he searched.

BeastBoy clenched his teeth together as he shifted into a gorilla. He grabbed large chunks of rock and metal and hurled them into the background. They continued their search eventually, BeastBoy could see the blue circuitry of Cyborg.

"Cy!" he yelled as he returned to his human form and grabbed the cybernetic teen's hand. He tugged relentlessly pulling his friend out of the wreckage. Arde glanced over at the two and frowned in anger.

'_Where are you, Raven?' _he asked himself. He pushed aside another slab of cement. He lifted another, raising it above his head. He looked down to see Raven's blue cloak beneath him.

"Raven!" he yelled desperately lifting a large segment of the building off of her.

The red haired teen grabbed his comrade by the waist, lifting her out of the rubble. BeastBoy rushed over to the two empaths, having gotten Cyborg back on his feet. Arde held the violet haired girl in his arms. She remained limp as Cyborg took her pulse.

"She's still breathing, but we need to get her back to the infirmary fast." He said with a voice dripping concern.

BeastBoy's ears drooped heavily as he looked down at his unmoving friend. He glanced up at the frowning face of Arde.

"Just go, dude. You can get her back the fastest." His words were barely audible.

Arde nodded, he held the pale girl close as he faded into the ground.


End file.
